LOS ANGELES – The Lakers owned the fourth quarter, Carmelo Anthony disappeared late and Mike D’Antoni’s club stole Christmas from the Knicks.
In a duel with Anthony at the electric Staples Center, Kobe Bryant played more desperate late and guided the Lakers to a 100-94 victory in showing how good the Lake Show can really be.
It was a spectacular game. Bryant and Anthony each finished with 34 points, but Bryant’s supporting cast was just better down the stretch and Melo got quiet in the fourth quarter, scoring seven points and taking just three shots in the final period. Raymond Felton had a poor outing, scoring 10 points on 5 of 19 shooting.
Steve Nash had 16 points and 11 assists, Metta World Peace stuck it to his childhood team with 20 points, seven rebounds and dogged defense on Anthony, who finished 13 of 23 from the field. Dwight Howard had 14 points, 12 rebounds and played great defense in the second half.
Tyson Chandler fouled out with 2:22 left, and Marcus Camby in his first game in a month, threw away an entry pass with 1:12 left. And without Chandler, Pau Gasol scored the game-sealer, charging down a vacant paint and throwing down a vicious two-handed dunk with 12 seconds left for a 99-94 lead. On the in-bounds, Kidd attempted to find Melo but he got entangled and the pass sailed out of bounds.
J.R. Smith, who took over the offense, drew them within two points on a 3-pointer with 1:01 left. But in the key moment, the ball went to Smith again – not Melo – with 30 seconds left and the Knicks down three and his trey went in and out. He finished with 25 points.
The Knicks had led by nine in the third quarter thanks to a Melo explosion but then he got quiet in the fourth. It was sweet redemption for former Knicks coach D’Antoni, whose team was routed at the Garden 12 days ago. But on Christmas night the Lakers were fully loaded and healthy, and have now won five straight since losing to the Knicks.
Anthony unloaded to open the second half as the Knicks exploded on a 12-2 run. Anthony scored on three buckets, all jumpers, to put the Knicks up 61-53.
Anthony hit another 3-pointer off a feed from Kidd to give the Knicks a 64-56 lead. That made 10 points for Melo in the first 3:50 of the second half. Melo had 27 points after three quarters on 11 of 20 shooting.
The Knicks were out-hustling the Lakers. Smith grabbed a loose-ball rebound, then quickly sank a 10-footer putting the Knicks up 67-60.
Kobe led a late third-quarter charge and World Peace raised the volume on the Lakers comeback, forcing a jumpball with Chandler, ripping the ball from his arms. Chandler seemed to want no part of the Queensbridge product as Metta stuck his chest out.
In the final seconds of the third, Bryant blew past Smith for a layup to make it 78-77 and got fouled on the play with 2.6 seconds left in the third. Chandler picked up a technical foul. But Kobe missed the technical and the bonus free throw.
World Peace barreled in on a fastbreak, missed the layup but got his own rebound and laid it home to give the Lakers their first lead since the opening seconds of the third. World Peace’s elbow clipped Steve Novak in the jaw on the putback and Novak hit the deck, and stayed down.
He was removed from the contest with 8:02 left. Kobe then hit a pullup as the Lakers seized a 85-82 lead with 7:34 left.
In a signature moment, Melo threw it away after being hounded by Metta with 5:45 left.
The Lakers led 51-49 at halftime, looking crisper than in their last meeting when they didn’t have Nash running the point or the size of and outside shooting of Pau Gasol. Nash had seven first-half assists.
Kobe outscored Melo 13-5 in the first quarter. Anthony hit his first two shots but then missed his next five to close the quarter. He looked out of his normal rhythm.
Before the game, D’Antoni said Anthony is one of a few MVP candidates, naming LeBron James and Kevin Durant. He said Kobe isn’t there yet because of the team’s record was below .500.
Bryant finished with 15 points by halftime while Melo had 10 on 4 of 11 shooting – 0 for 4 from 3-point land. D’Antoni said before the game one of the big differences in Melo this season is he’s hitting his 3-point shot, which wasn’t always when he was coaching him.
Anthony picked up his third foul with 2:44 left in the second quarter and was sent to the bench.
Earlier in the second quarter, he escaped what could’ve been a serious knee injury. Camby toppled on his left knee after the big center got tripped up on a drive and crashed to the court. Melo hopped around in agony for about 30 seconds but stayed in the game.
Anthony sprained his left ankle and hurt his knee vs. the Lakers in the meeting Dec. 13th after Dwight Howard sent him to the floor and he missed two games.
With Melo tentative, Smith was a ball of fire and finished with 15 first-half points and was hustling back on defense and playing like a tiger on Bryant. His Lakers counterpart, World Peace, had a big second quarter, lighting it up from 3-point land. After being blanked in the first period, he went 4 for 4 in the second, making all three of his 3-pointers and scoring 16 points total. World Peace went at it hard against Smith during one possession. After Smith appeared to charge into him with no whistle, World Peace retaliated by fouling him hard away from the bucket. D’Antoni then pulled World Peace.
In a sneaky move, Woodson changed the starting lineup and brought slumping Ronnie Brewer off the bench, scrapping their three-guard alignment. It was the first time Brewer had come off the bench. Kurt Thomas started at power forward and Melo moved to small forward. Brewer had gone scoreless in five of the past 10 games. Thomas, who once as a Knick got suspended for throwing a punch at Jalen Rose on Christmas Day, responded with six first-quarter points, finally hitting his baby jumper.
Camby, a defensive center, looked extra aggressive offensively after missing 12 straight games with plantar fasciitis. He was not in the rotation when he got sidelined but Woodson used him for 5:45 in the first half and was more aggressive than he had been all season. Camby drove the ball and even took a rainbow jumper. He finished with 4 points – 1 of 3 from the field, 2 of 4 from the foul line.