Melo, 3 others ejected as Knicks fall to Bulls
NEW YORK — New York’s Carmelo Anthony and three others were thrown out of a foul-filled game, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Knicks for the second time this season, 110- 106 on Friday night.
Knicks center Tyson Chandler and Bulls counterpart Joakim Noah were tossed after a fourth-quarter altercation, shortly after New York coach Mike Woodson had been ejected following his second technical. He drew a loud ovation during his walk to the locker room from Knicks fans who angrily booed the officiating for much of the second half.
Luol Deng had season highs of 29 points and 13 rebounds for the Bulls despite briefly leaving the game with an injured left shoulder. Marco Belinelli added 22 points as Chicago won for the fourth time in five games.
Anthony finished with 29 points on 10-of-25 shooting, ending his streak of four straight 30- point games. The Knicks lost for the second time in three home games after winning their first 10.
Noah finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in completely outplaying Chandler, who took only one shot and was limited to five points and eight boards.
Kirk Hinrich had 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Bulls, who were totally shutting the Knicks down until allowing 45 mostly meaningless points in the fourth quarter after Chicago had led by 25 in the third.
The Knicks were held to season lows of 85 points and 32.1 percent shooting in an eight- point loss in Chicago on Dec. 8, when Anthony was sidelined by a cut on his finger that required stitches. Woodson said before the game he thought the Knicks got good shots that night and just missed them, expecting his team would deliver a better performance on its home floor with Anthony in the lineup.
Instead, the Knicks were never really in the game on a rare off night from Anthony, the NBA’s second-leading scorer. The score got close in the final minutes, but the outcome had long been decided.
Anthony was called for his second technical, earning an automatic ejection, with 6:45 left after he was whistled for a foul on Noah’s offensive rebound and apparently said something to referee Olandis Poole.
Once the game got away from the Knicks, so did their emotions, questioning calls that were made or arguing for ones that weren’t. Chandler and Noah were battling for a rebound when they got tangled up and began jawing, and may have even made contact with their heads before they were separated.
The fans weren’t happy, either. Spike Lee stood a couple of feet behind Zach Zarba from his courtside seat in the fourth quarter, staring a hole through the referee after one call went against the Knicks. Pistons 100, Wizards 68 AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Greg Monroe had 15 points and nine rebounds and rookie Andre Drummond added a double-double and the Detroit Pistons ended a six- game losing streak with a rout.
The Pistons, who never trailed, got 15 points from Brandon Knight and 11 points and a career- high 14 rebounds from Drummond. Detroit hadn’t beaten anyone other than the Cavaliers since late November.
The teams meet again Saturday night in the nation’s capital, but the Wizards will have to play a much better game to have a shot at splitting the home-and-home series.
Pacers 99, Cavaliers 89 CLEVELAND — Roy Hibbert scored 18 points and Lance Stephenson added a season-high 16 to lead the Indiana Pacers to a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who lost their sixth straight game.
Hibbert didn’t have to deal with injured Cavs center Anderson Varejao, the NBA’s leading rebounder. Varejao missed his second game in a row with a bruised right knee.
David West added 15 points and 10 rebounds and Gerald Green had 14 points — with a ferocious dunk — as the Pacers won for the fifth time in six
games. Raptors 93, Magic 90 TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan scored 17 points, Jose Calderon had 13 points and nine assists and the Toronto Raptors won their fifth straight game Friday night.
Rookie Terrence Ross scored seven of his 13 points in the fourth quarter while Alan Anderson, Ed Davis and Amir Johnson each had 10 for the Raptors.
76ers 99, Hawks 80 PHILADELPHIA — Thaddeus Young had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Evan Turner scored 21 points to help the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Atlanta Hawks.
Jason Richardson scored 17 to help the Sixers snap a five-game losing streak. Jrue Holiday had 11 points after missing four games with a sprained left foot. The 76ers held the Hawks to 39 percent shooting and outrebounded them 45-37.
Bucks 99, Celtics 94, OT BOSTON — Monta Ellis scored five of his 27 points in overtime and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Boston Celtics in the teams’ final meeting this season despite blowing a seven- point lead late in regulation.
The Bucks won for the sixth time in eight games, taking three of four against the Celtics, who had a five-game home winning streak snapped despite 35 points by Paul Pierce.