Anthony’s jumper thwarts a big rally
NEW YORK >> Carmelo Anthony was disappointed the Knicks let another big lead against the 76ers turn into a close finish.
He made sure this went the Knicks’ way.
Anthony made a jumper with 0.3 seconds left to give New York a 110-109 victory on Saturday night.
The Knicks blew a 17-point lead, just as they did in Philadelphia on Jan. 11 when they lost 98-97 on T.J. McConnell’s jumper at the buzzer.
“It was similar situations as the first time we played them in Philly,” Anthony said. “Only thing is the roles were reversed this time and instead of them making the shot, I made the shot.”
The Knicks fell behind by one when Jahlil Okafor scored with 9 seconds remaining. But Anthony dribbled left after a timeout, pulling up over Robert Covington to cap his 37-point performance.
The Knicks then intercepted the 76ers’ inbounds pass to hold on and snap their two-game losing streak.
“You go into the locker room and you see the shot he made with .3 seconds left on the clock and Robert’s right there,” 76ers coach Brett Brown said. “That’s Melo. He is a gifted isolation scorer.”
Derrick Rose added 18 points and Justin Holiday had 14 for the Knicks, who won for just the third time in 11 games. They played without starters Kristaps Porzingis (sprained right ankle) and Joakim Noah (sore left hamstring).
Okafor had a season-high 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the 76ers nearly one pulled out the victory after beating Washington on Friday. Dario Saric had 19 points and 15 rebounds, and Covington finished with 20 points and 10 boards.
The Knicks avoided falling behind the 76ers into 13th place in the Eastern Conference, but it might be too late to get ahead of the teams they need to. They came in five games behind Detroit for the eighth and final playoff spot.
Before the game, Brown said his experience was that teams playing on the second night of a back-to-back usually started quickly before getting fatigued.