Minnesota Timberwolves’ head coach Rick Adelman and guard Ricky Rubio (9) argue with referee Marat Kogut (centre) after he called him for a foul against the New York Knicks in the fourth quarter of their NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden in New York, yesterday.
New York: Carmelo Anthony took over in the last two minutes to carry the New York Knicks to a 94-91 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves yesterday.
Anthony, who was ejected during Friday’s loss to the Chicago Bulls, finished with 33 points, scoring 19 in the fourth quarter, as the Knicks came from behind to secure the home win.
“We didn’t want to look back at this game later in the season and say this was a game we shouldn’t have lost,” Anthony told reporters. “We picked it up defensively in the second half and we won the game.”
New York trailed for virtually the entire game before Anthony went on an 8-0 run in the final two minutes to put the Knicks up by four.
Anthony scored the Knicks’ last 12 points to seal the win.
“That was kind of an MVP performance at the end. He stepped up and made the plays,” said New York coach Mike Woodson. “When he got that fifth foul called, it’s like a light went off and he made the plays big-time.”
JR Smith scored 19 off the bench for New York (20-7) while Tyson Chandler had 16 and nine rebounds as the Knicks maintained their 5 1/2 game lead in the Atlantic Division.
Nikola Pekovic recorded 21 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Timberwolves (13-12), who were missing All Star Kevin Love due to an eye ailment.
Minnesota went up by nine at half-time and led by 11 midway through the third before New York made their move.
Chandler scored 10 in the third quarter as the Knicks cut the deficit to two heading into the fourth.
New York are still without forward Amar’e Stoudemire, who has been out the entire season with a knee injury but has recently started practicing with the team.
Despite his absence, the Knicks are off to a strong start and have a 5 1/2-game lead in the Atlantic Division.
Meanwhile, Danny Green scored a career-high 25 points and sparked a San Antonio 3-point barrage to lead the Spurs over Dallas 129-91 spoiling the NBA return of German star Dirk Nowitzki.
Frenchman Tony Parker added 18 points and Tim Duncan contributed 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocks for the Spurs, who hit 20-of-30 3-point attempts, powered by Green’s 7-of-8 showing from beyond the arc.
Nowitzki missed the first 27 games of the season for the Mavericks because of a knee injury but came off the bench yesterday to contribute eight points and six rebounds in just over 20 minutes on the court.
Darren Collison had 15 points and Vince Carter 13 to lead the Mavericks, who lost their third game in a row, sliding to 12-16. San Antonio improved to 21-8, one game ahead of Memphis atop the Southwest division.
Kawhi Leonard added 17 points and five steals for the Spurs, who hit 7-of-9 3-pointers in the third period, outscoring Dallas 36-14 in the period, and stretched their lead as large as 46 points in the final minutes of the NBA match yesterday.
Meanwhile, Utah Jazz starting point guard Mo Williams has been sidelined indefinitely because of an injured right thumb, the NBA club announced yesterday.
Williams, whose thumb underwent an MRI exam, suffered the injury in a loss and will be further evaluated today.AGENCIES
