NEW YORK (AP) ― Carmelo Anthony scored 19 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, rallying the New York Knicks to a 94-91 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night.
New York trailed from the opening minutes until Anthony scored eight straight points down the stretch. He had scored just nine points on 3-of-11 shooting in the first half, but had the final 12 for the Knicks to give them a 4-2 finish on their six-game homestand.
J.R. Smith added 19 points and Tyson Chandler had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Knicks, who will fly to Los Angeles later Sunday for their Christmas Day game against the Lakers.
Nikola Pekovic had 21 points and 17 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who played without star forward Kevin Love because of an eye injury. Alexey Shved added 18 points for Minnesota.
Love was poked in the eye late in the Wolves’ 99-93 victory over Oklahoma City on Thursday and didn’t travel with the team to New York. They nearly pulled it out without him, leading almost the entire night before falling for the third time in four games.
Anthony made a 3-pointer with 1:53 left to get New York within one, then fought off the tough defense of Andrei Kirilenko, scoring while being fouled and converting the three-point play with 1:13 to play that made it 88-86, the Knicks’ first lead since it was 5-4.
Nowitzki makes season debut
SAN ANTONIO (AP) ― Dirk Nowitzki wasn’t expecting to play much during his season debut Sunday night against the San Antonio Spurs.
Still, after missing the Dallas Mavericks’ first 27 regular-season games, he didn’t expect to take a seat on the bench after 20 minutes with the game completely out of hand.
“In the middle of the third we were down by 80, so I didn’t really have to go back in,” Nowitzki said, exaggerating the Mavs’ largest deficit just a bit.
Danny Green scored a career-high 25 points and the Spurs spoiled Nowitzki’s season debut with a 129-91 rout of the Mavericks.
San Antonio’s largest lead was actually 46, but the deficit seemed larger to Dallas.
“We got a (butt-kicking), that’s it,” Shawn Marion said. “No need to explain it ... it was an old-fashioned (butt-kicking).”
The Spurs set a franchise record with 20 3-pointers, besting the record of 19 they set Dec. 8 in Charlotte. San Antonio also set a season high for largest margin of victory.
Tony Parker had 18 points, Kawhi Leonard added 17, Tim Duncan 15 and Stephen Jackson 14 for the Spurs (21-8).
Brooklyn 95, Philadelphia 92
New York 94, Minnesota 91
Utah 97, Orlando 93
LA Clippers 103, Phoenix 77
Sacramento 108, Portland 96
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
