ON A ROLL: While Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points, Kenyon Martin continued his tear with an 18-point, seven-rebound night in the Knicks’ 110-84 victory over the Raptors last night. (EPA)
ON A ROLL: While Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points, Kenyon Martin (left) continued his tear with an 18-point, seven-rebound night in the Knicks’ 110-84 victory over the Raptors last night.
Tyson Chandler better hurry back before he loses his starting job to Kenyon Martin.
The Knicks’ new 6-foot-9 starting center, on the NBA scrapheap one month ago, tore up the Raptors in this victorious home-and-home series and is proving to be a godsend signing in the wake of the club’s massive big-man injuries.
Coming off a 19-point, 11-rebound gem on Friday in Toronto, Martin was back creating Garden havoc last night, igniting the fans to chant his name in the final seconds of the first half.
Martin, making his sixth straight start, scored 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting with seven rebounds and provided more nasty defensive play. The Knicks swept the Raptors in the back-to-back, posting a 110-84 victory for their fourth straight win. Martin is 16 of 21 from the field in the last two games and celebrated a couple of his dunks with wild gyrations to the crowd.
“That is how I play basketball,’’ Martin said. “I try to provide more energy and the fans appreciate that. It is always great to hear it from the fans.’’
Martin said he was spurred on by bench jockeying from his former Denver teammate, Linas Kleiza, now a forward for Toronto.
“Linas is my guy, it was fun and games,’’ Martin said. “He said I lost it. I said I’ll prove to you I have it. That was right before my blocked shot.’’
Carmelo Anthony had another smooth outing in gaining the upper hand on his former teammate, Landry Fields.
Anthony scored 28 points in a tidy 30 minutes as the Knicks moved 2 1/2 games ahead of the Nets in the Atlantic Division, after Brooklyn’s 101-95 loss to the Clippers last night.
Anthony (9 of 19, 10 of 10 from the free-throw line) rested up in the fourth quarter after his 43-minute marathon Friday while J.R. Smith added 25 points off the bench.
“It was great we only played him 30 minutes,’’ coach Mike Woodson said.
Woodson said he is not yet considering keeping Martin in the starting lineup when Chandler comes back. Chandler is battling a bulging disk in his spine and Woodson said he had no idea if he’ll be back Wednesday against Memphis. Keeping Martin in the starting lineup with Chandler would give the Knicks a more traditional lineup, moving Anthony from power forward to small forward. But Woodson wants Martin, signed one month ago, back on the bench.
“It’s fine,’’ Martin said. “I’ll still get minutes.’’
Martin made a series of momentum-turning highlight plays in the last two minutes of the first half, celebrating by posing, bobbing his head and whaling to the fans. The most poignant came when Jason Kidd celebrated his 40th birthday yesterday by sending a throwback alley-oop pass for Martin, who flushed it home. It was something out of the swamps of New Jersey, as the two players made two Finals together as Nets.
“It is amazing that we hooked up back again,’’ Martin said. “Who would have thought it would be in a Knicks uniform, but I will take it. It is our knowledge of the game. I know what he looks for. He sees everything around the court and my ability to make plays around the basket.’’
During that stretch, Martin jammed home an Anthony airball and blocked a penetrating point guard Kyle Lowry on the other end. Martin capped his dynamic surge with a 3-point play after getting banged underneath and still converting a flip shot in the lane. He went to the free throw line and the Garden fans chanted “Ken-yon Mar-tin.’’ Earlier, he got away with a very hard foul on a driving Demar DeRozan.
“He is so active around the rim offensively in terms of putbacks,’’ Woodson said. “It is contagious.’’
The game didn’t go by without a confrontational incident between Anthony and Fields, who delivered a elbow into Anthony’s chest on a drive. Melo took issue and pushed Fields hard, drawing a flagrant 1 foul. As best friends of Jeremy Lin, Fields and Anthony didn’t see eye to eye on the court or off of it.
Midway through the third quarter, Pablo Prigioni hit Martin on a long pass and layup. Martin beat everyone down the floor with his fresh legs that rested across October, November, December, January and most of February.
“I have been sitting at home for a while so I tried to make sure I was in shape,’’ Martin said.
Smith came on strong after a brutal start. He committed three turnovers in his first few minutes of action but finished the game shooting 8 of 14. Iman Shumpert (13 points, five rebounds, four steals) continues to gradually become more effective.
Anthony said he’s still “trying to get my explosiveness back.’’ But Martin seems to already have it — at age 35.
“I know what he’s capable of doing, especially on this team,’’ Anthony said. “It seemed like a perfect opportunity for him right now with guys being out to showcase that. He’s been out of the league for a minute and he was coming back trying to prove himself.’’