Without Anthony, Knicks dump Heat
MIAMI — Raymond Felton scored a season-high 27 points, and the New York Knicks connected on 18 3-pointers to more than offset the absence of Carmelo Anthony while topping Miami for the second time this season, beating the Heat 112-92 on Thursday night.
Steve Novak scored 18 points, J.R. Smith added 13 and Tyson Chandler scored 13 for the Knicks, who won their fifth straight and moved 1 1/2 games clear of Miami for the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks made eight 3pointers in the third quarter alone, the most by any NBA team in any quarter so far this season.
Anthony sat out, one night after needing five stitches to close a cut on the middle finger of his left hand.
LeBron James nearly picked up his second straight tripledouble - 31 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists - in Miami's second straight loss. Dwyane Wade scored 13 points, Chris Bosh had 12 and Udonis Haslem added 10 for the Heat, who fell to 8-1 at home.
Rasheed Wallace scored 12 and Jason Kidd added 11 for the Knicks, who finished 18 for 44 from 3-point range.
It was tied at 53 at the half, and the third quarter changed everything for the Knicks. Kidd made a 3-pointer, Felton followed with consecutive 3s and New York was up by nine with 9:42 left in the period and the Heat seemed stunned. New York was only getting started. In all, it was an eight-3-pointers-in-eight-minutes barrage that decided this one, with five different players getting in on the act for the Knicks. Smith hit the last of them with 3:25 left in the third, and a pair of free throws by Chandler moments later gave New York - again, without its best player - an 18-point lead on the road against the reigning NBA champions.