The Knicks had the best player on the court but not the best team.
Carmelo Anthony finished with 42 points but the super-deep Clippers repelled the Knicks second-half comeback and posted a 102-88 Garden-matinee thumping in their season’s first meeting.
“Their bench has been good for them all year,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. “Our bench had been good for us. That was the difference.”
Only one team looked championship-caliber and it wasn’t the home team. It was the first time this season the Knicks (32-17) looked legitimately outmanned and outclassed.
Melo kept them in it singlehandedly, carrying 38 points into the fourth quarter but quieted down in the final period, scoring just 4 points. The Clippers (36-17) began the quarter on a 19-8 game-sealing run. The Knicks had rallied to within one point, 71-70, after three quarters behind Anthony’s 18 points in the frame.
The shining example of the Clippers’ superior depth occurred in domination in the battle between Sixth Man of the Year candidates as ex-Knick Jamal Crawford absolutely destroyed J.R. Smith. The Clippers bench outscored the reputed Knicks bench 48-15/
Clippers star point guard Chris Paul had a lovely game in just his second contest back from an injured kneecap, scoring 25 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.It was Paul’s first game at the Garden in nearly two years. Blake Griffin soared for 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Paul hit a huge bucket with 2:15 left, getting in the lane on Raymond Felton, scoring on a runner and getting fouled to put LA up 8. Though Paul missed the free throw, Felton came down and had his driving layup blocked by Blake Griffin. Paul scored again on a runner in the lane with 1:40 left to put LA up 97-86.
Always a lover of this arena, Crawford collected 24 points (11 of 21). Smith had one of his season’s worst games, shooting 1 of 8 for 6 points. Amar’e Stoudemire’s low-post act got a little stale, too, as he came off the bench and supplied just 9 points in 25 minutes. Felton finished with 20 points, but four turnovers.
Iman Shumpert, who was assigned to Paul at the start, wasn’t effective as his slump continued. Shumpert had 2 points in 21 minutes.
The Clippers led by as many as 13 points in the first half and took a 52-44 lead at halftime.
Paul, after scoring just 3 points in his return from a nine-game absence with a kneecap injury Friday in Miami, shed all the rust and had 16 points and 5 assists by halftime. Woodson decided to match struggling defensive specialist Shumpert on Paul to start the game but Paul did his thing.
The Knicks shot just 35 percent in the first quarter and trailed the Clips, 22-17. Paul drilled two early 3-pointers and aced a jumper over the taller Shumpert.
Melo finished with 20 first-half points. He was 6 of 14 and 7 of 7 from the free-throw line but got no support. The Knicks got no pop from their reputed bench. Smith was 1 of 6. Stoudemire was 1 of 5. Novak didn’t take a shot against his former club in 4:38.
The Clippers looked the much deeper team (19 bench points in the first half). Crawford hit 4 of 8 shots for 9, all from the perimeter. His left-wing trey put them up 45-35 midway through the second quarter. Griffin had enough violent dunks to give him 9 points at halftime. After one fastbreak, Paul missed the layup but Griffin followed with a monster putback slam.
The Knicks committed five turnovers in the first quarter. Of the Clippers first-half highlights, Odom found Griffin for a thunderous alley-oop dunk, and Eric Bledsoe raced in for a fastbreak layup after Stoudemire was blocked by Odom underneath.
Early in the second quarter, Bledsoe stole a Shumpert pass and waltzed in for a breakaway dunk and 26-17 lead. Odom then drove to the bucket for a layup, putting them up 28-17. The Knicks got up 30-27 and 32-19.
The second half started off as bleak with Paul dribbling around Shumpert for a layup. But Melo roared like a lion in the third quarter, scoring 18 points, including four 3-pointers, rallying the Knicks back, even giving them a 1-point edge late in the third quarter on a 3-pointer. Griffin was assigned to Melo even though he didn’t seem to know it.
Felton’s neck snapped back fighting for a rebound in a collision with Odom and he collapsed to the court late in the third quarter. He was down nearly a minute, including a full Clippers possession as they scored on a 5-on-4. The Knicks medical staff finally got onto the court to attend to Felton, who left the game with neck pain. He returned to the locker room but was cleared to play to start the fourth quarter.