NBA: Three in a row for Knicks as they remain unbeaten at home
The New York Knicks lit up Madison Square Gardens last night with their third home win in a row.
Carmelo Anthony lifted the Knicks to a 106-99 win over the Phoenix Suns at Madison Square Garden – the third straight victory for the Knicks.
Anthony has made his reputation as a sharp shooter in NBA but this time around he also clicked on the defensive end of the court.
On the night, he led the Knicks with 34 points and 6 rebounds and a steal. Raymond Felton had 23 points and 7 assists while Tyson Chandler posted a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Five Suns made into double digit scoring figures with Marcin Gortat leading the pack at 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Shannon Brown scored 17 points and grabbed 7 rebounds and Sebastian Telfair came off the bench to add 11 points.
New York carried the tradition of collecting an advantage early and then holding on to it. They were up 59-42 at the end of first half. The Suns came back late in the final quarter but the Knicks held off the charge to go up 7-0 at home.
“Every game’s not going to be a runaway or blowout for us. You gotta give them credit. They played hard. They were scrapping it out and made a game out of it.
“We closed it out and got a ‘W,’ that’s what counts.” Knicks coach Woodson said after the win.
The Knicks went for a 13-0 run early in the first period to go up 21-6 as the Suns never got ahead the entire game.
Phoenix responded with an 8-0 burst to reduce the deficit down to 14-21 and a strong finish by the Suns at the end of the period had them trailing 20-24.
Steve Novak nailed one from downtown to push their lead to 29-20 early in the second period.
The Suns kept a close eye on the Knicks early in the second period and had them to within 29-35 after a Michael Beasley driving layup. But the Knicks started pulling ahead later in the period and pushed their lead to 17 points.
Third quarter was red hot as a total of 60 points were scored in it with both teams dividing the spoils equally.
Anthony knocked down a three in the closing seconds of the quarter to maintain the Knicks’ 17 point lead.
Phoenix were hunting for blood in the fourth period and started slashing the deficit right from the word go. Jared Dudley connected one from downtown as the Suns made it a 6 point game on 85-91 with just under seven to go.
The Knicks scored a brace to put more distance between them and the Suns, but the visitors came back again and made it a 4 point game on 99-103. The Knicks however kept their cool and scored the final 3 points of the game to win it 106-99.
