Beasley fires with 30 for Knicks
MICHAEL Beasley had the hot hand as the New York Knicks used a balanced scoring attack to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-96, spoiling the return of Carmelo Anthony to Madison Square Garden.
Beasley shot 11-of-18 from the field to tally 30 points as six players scored in double figures for the Knicks, who improved to 16-13 on the season.
Anthony struggled in his return, making just five field goals and finishing with 12 points including none in the second half.
Anthony, who was featured in a highlight video during the introductions, heard cheers from the crowd of 19,800 but also a smattering of boos. This was Anthony’s first trip back to the Garden as a member of the Thunder since being traded in September for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a draft pick.
Anthony helped lead New York to its first division title in 19 years in the 2012-2013 season and averaged nearly 25 points per game in his six-plusyear stint with the Knicks.
Anthony has scored more than 25 points just once in his past 26 games with the Thunder.
Elsewhere, Josh Richardson scored 28 points and coach Erik Spoelstra passed his mentor Pat Riley in franchise wins with his 455th as the Miami Heat defeated the LA Clippers 90-85.
Miami fended off a tremendous effort from DeAndre Jordan at the AmericanAirlines Arena. The star of a watered-down Clippers line-up scored 12 points and had 20 rebounds.
Jordan has a season-best four consecutive doubledoubles and seven doubledoubles in his last eight starts.