This time Carmelo Anthony did something about the strange calls going against him. Instead of getting ejected, he ejected the Wolves off Broadway, pouring in 19 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter as the Knicks rallied to top Minnesota, at the Garden last night for their 20th victory.
Melo was having a rough night entering the final period with just 14 points on 5 of 17 shooting. But he took it upon himself in the fourth, even after two odd calls went against him down the stretch. Melo scored 10 points in the final three minutes to hold off the pesky Wolves.
Anthony shot just 10 of 25 but made 10 of 11 free throws, including 4 straight in the final 16.5 seconds, hearing more “MVP’’ chants. The Knicks rallied from 11 points down in the second half as they moved to 4-2 on the completed homestand with a three-game Western trip ahead, including Christmas Day in LA.
Anthony started to get hot midway through the fourth, making two nice finishes. But then the referees called two odd fouls on him one game after he had one of his technicals rescinded – which always is embarrassing for the referees.
Anthony had scored on a pullup after beating Andrei Kirilenko but may have grazed his face on his dribble. The next call was stranger – a loose-ball foul called as Luke Ridnour shot an airball that sailed out of bounds. Fans booed, Melo looked stunned and Mike Woodson picked up a technical foul.
But Melo stepped up after that. He buried a wide-open 3-pointer from the left wing after good ball movement. Then the Knicks made a great stop, with bruising Nikola Pekovic (21 points) getting stripped late in the shotblock by a double-teaming Raymond Felton.
Melo came down, took Kirilenko off the dribble and hit a spinning shot in the lane, and got fouled. He made the free throw and the Knicks had an 88-86 lead.
Melo got fouled far from the basket on the next possession and made both free throws to put the Knicks up 90-86 with 31 seconds left. Alexey Shved stole the ball from J.R. Smith in the backcourt and hit a 3-pointer. But Melo made 4 straight free throws in the final 16.5 seconds to seal it.
The Knicks were outrebounded 47-35 despite moving to 20-7. Tyson Chandler had 16 points and 9 rebounds one game after his Chicago ejection.
Anthony shot just 3 of 11 in the first half, including an airball at the second-quarter buzzer. He had 10 straight misses before converting with 8:10 left in the third quarter. At least he wasn’t arguing calls like in Friday’s loss to Chicago. His second technical foul in that outing was rescinded on Saturday, so he no longer holds the league lead in technicals.
The Knicks trailed 55-46 at halftime as they were outrebounded 28-15 despite rebounding machine Kevin Love not playing with an eye injury. Nikola Pekovic had four offensive boards in which he converted for two putbacks and finished with 15 first-half points.
Wolves PG J.J. Barea hit a 3-pointer to put the Knicks up 40-34 with 6:49 left in the second quarter. The Knicks came alive as Smith drove in for a monstrous dunk on center Greg Stiemsma. Smith scored on a reverse dunk off a fastbreak. Then Smith fed Chandler on an alley-oop pass for another dunk to draw the Knicks within one point with 4:22 left in the second quarter.
Ronnie Brewer’s lack of offensive panache has come under scrutiny and he was 0 for 0 in the half – scoreless in 10:20. Meanwhile, Jason Kidd’s 3-point shooting touch has gone cold in recent games. He was 0 for 3 by halftime. Kidd had led the league at 52 percent just one week ago.
The Knicks trailed just 73-71 after three quarters. But they were still sloppier than usual. Smith tired a behind-the-back pass to Chandler who was alone underneath, that skidded out of bounds.
Smith committed a charge on Rubio, then in anger flung the ball away, receiving a technical foul. With 8:40 left.
The Knicks rebounding didn’t improve much in the third quarter. Dante Cunningham grabbed an offensive board and fed Luke Ridnour for a baby jumper.