NBA

Knicks’ Anthony nets East-high 26, but unable to grab victory

DUNK YOU VERY MUCH: Carmelo Anthony slams home two of his team-high 26 points in the Eastern Conference’s 143-138 loss to the West in the All-Star Game last night in Houston. (
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HOUSTON — Any NBA All-Star Game is first and foremost a celebration of offense, creativity and moves found in the “betcha can’t top this” category.

The 62d annual event last night was no exception.

So the Knicks Carmelo Anthony felt right at home.

“For the most part, everybody played their part and did what they had to do and had fun,” said Anthony.

So Anthony’s part, in his sixth All-Star Game, was an Eastern Conference double-double with 26 points and 12 rebounds — both team highs — but it wasn’t enough as the West rode a spectacular 20-point, 15-assist effort from Chris Paul plus 30 points from Kevin Durant to a 143-138 victory. It was the third straight Western win. At least the West had fun.

Anthony’s Knicks teammate Tyson Chandler, here because of his rebounding and defense, still was comfortable. Off the bench for the first time since the final game of 2009-10 when he was in Charlotte, Chandler played 17 minutes and had seven points and eight rebounds. New York’s other All-Star, Brooklyn’s Brook Lopez, had three points in 11 minutes. Lopez was the last player from the East to enter the game, checking in at 9:23 of the second quarter.

Dwyane Wade scored 21 points for the East.

“It was Melo being Melo always,” Chandler said. “I always look up at some point in the game and say, ‘He has 17, 18 points? When did he score?’ He gets points so easy.”

And the most fun in the game occurred late when megastars — maybe you’ve heard of them — LeBron James (19 points) of the East and Kobe Bryant (9 points, 8 assists) of the West went head-to-head in a little one-on-one showdown that featured two blocks by Bryant.

“It’s fun to be a part of it. It’s fun to be out there with them. It’s fun to see. It brings the best out of everybody as you could see,” said Anthony, who shot 8 of 14. “It got the game going, kind of got the West team going. I love that because of the competitive nature.”

But now it’s back to the regular-season grind, starting Wednesday in Indiana.

Following an introduction ceremony that was highly entertaining but stunningly long, Anthony began doing what he does best, scoring. After the first quarter, both he and James had seven points to lead the East. Anthony showed his full set of skills while helping to electrify the sold-out Toyota Center with a lob to James for a thunderous, one-hand dunk midway through the quarter.

Chandler, who made his mark with defense — crazy, huh? — and rebounding also forced his share of oohs and aahs and are you kiddings when he unleashed a terrifying one-handed slam off a Wade lob for the final score of the first half.

“It was a great experience. I’m just honored to be on this stage with the best players in the world, and especially to be able to share the moment with my teammate, Melo,” said Chandler, who at 30 years of age — 12 of them in the NBA — made his first All-Star Game. “ I wish we could’ve had the coach [Mike Woodson] here, but we’ll shoot for that next year.”

There were some special moments in the game, mostly good but some bad. The Cavs’ Kyrie Irving — viewed by Heat fans as an ogre of unimaginable horror in case he and James ever hook up in Cleveland — flashed his magnificent 20-year-old brilliance, handling, shooting and passing.

Paul was equally effective for the West. James was James. Durant was a stat demon. Chicago’s Joakim Noah defended like it was June. Wade often stunned with his scoring and passing.

And then there was Chris Bosh, who in the first half alone, fired up three airballs and then was victimized by Paul who dribbled through his legs at one point. He became the biggest target of Twitter abuse all night.