NEW YORK, Sporting Alert – Carmelo Anthony scored 22 points, including 14 consecutive in a dominant third quarter and the New York Knicks defeated the Brooklyn Nets 110-96 in the NBA on Wednesday night.
Anthony, who missed all four of his shots in the first quarter, finished on 9 of 22 efficient from the field in shooting, while grabbing seven rebounds in 34 minutes to help the Knicks rallied from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to build a 20 point lead before the end of the game.
Fellow forward Kristaps Porzingis added 21 on 7 of 15 shooting from the floor, including four 3-pointers, while pulling down eight rebounds in the win for the Knicks (3-4) at Madison Square Garden.
Rookie center Willy Hernangomez had a season-best 14 points to go with six rebounds off the bench, Derrick Rose also scored 14 and Courtney Lee chipped in with 13 points for New York, which shot 47.8 percent as a team and went on a 20-7 run to start the fourth quarter to build the double-digit lead.
“Our bench guys were great,” New York Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said. “They came in there, brought the energy, Melo got hot there in that third quarter and was rolling, so great second half for our guys to see what putting pressure and getting after it defensively can do for your team.”
Brook Lopez and Justin Hamilton each scored 21 points to lead the way for the Nets in the defeat.
However, the next four Brooklyn starters – Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Bojan Bogdanovic, Sean Kilpatrick and Trevor Booker accounted for just 26 points on a combined 6 of 28 shooting.
The Nets are now 0-3 on the road this season.
Brandon Jennings dished out 11 assists off the bench for the Knicks, which according to the club’s website, is the most for a New York player since Toney Douglas in the 2010-11 season.
He praised Anthony for stepping up in the third quarter.
“Melo got it going. He probably had like 10 or 12 straight at one point, so that kind of just enlightened the whole team,” Jennings said.
“And then we were just taking care of the defensive end and then just finding KP coming down for transition 3s and then he got an and-1 dunk, so we were just clicking tonight.”
The Brooklyn Nets return to action on Saturday when they visit the Phoenix Suns, while the New York Knicks are in Boston on Friday to face fellow Eastern Conference rivals Celtics in their next fixture, live on NBA League Pass
