New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Carmelo Anthony became the 40th player in
NBA history to score 20,000 points, leading the New York Knicks to a 96-93 win
over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday.
Anthony, who entered the game just three points shy of the 20,000-point
plateau, finished with 28 and hit the eventual game-winner for New York, which
has won two straight since a 24-point loss to Chicago in its season opener.
Amar’e Stoudemire contributed 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench and Iman
Shumpert added 15 points in the win.
Al Jefferson paced the Hornets with 21 points, while Kemba Walker tallied 16
points and Lance Stephenson nearly deposited a triple-double with 14 points,
nine rebounds and eight assists.
Gary Neal and Walker scored on back-to-back possessions late in the fourth to
give the Hornets a 93-90 lead.
Pablo Prigioni then drove the lane on the Knicks’ ensuing touch and kicked it
over to Shumpert, who nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game.
Following a miss from Walker at the other end, Anthony drilled a contested
jumper from the elbow to give New York the lead for good with 1:24 remaining.
Neither team came up with points on their respective possessions with under a
minute to go. Charlotte then turned the ball over on a pivotal five-second
violation inbounding at half court.
Shumpert missed a deep jumper following a timeout and Charlotte had a chance
to tie with 16.6 seconds left.
Walker drove the lane, pumped to get Prigioni in the air, but his jumper was
long. Anthony corraled the miss and split a pair of free throws and Charlotte
didn’t get a shot off before the buzzer.
Anthony opened the game with a jumper, then made history as the sixth-youngest
player to reach 20,000 points with a 3-pointer minutes later.
The trey from Anthony was a part of a 15-5 run to open the game, and the
Knicks’ lead was as high as 12 in the quarter before Charlotte trimmed the
deficit to 29-21 heading into the second.
New York slowly built its lead to a game-high 15 in the second, but the
Hornets used a 20-7 run over the final 4:23 to trail 52-50 at the break.
As the shot clock was set to expire late in the third, Anthony rose up and
canned a deep 3-pointer just inside the Knicks logo at center court to tie the
game at 69-69.
The game went back and forth over the final minutes of the quarter, with
Charlotte taking an 80-79 lead into the fourth.
Game Notes
Charlotte is 6-22 at Madison Square Garden since 1997-98 … Hornets forward
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist went up for a defensive rebound early in the first,
collided with Shane Larkin and slammed to the floor, grasping at his right
shoulder as Charlotte’s medical team ran onto the court. He shook off the fall
at first, but later would leave the game and not return … The largest lead
in the second half for both teams was three … There were 22 lead changes and
10 ties.
