It won't be nearly good enough to beat the Heat, but the Knicks survived an ugly affair after nearly blowing a 17-point lead, hanging on for a 89-85 victory over the Pistons at the Garden on Tuesday night.
The Knicks led 73-58 entering the final quarter before sputtering badly and allowing Detroit to cut their lead to one point.
Carmelo Anthony scored 34 points, keyed a 15-0 third-quarter spree, secured a key offensive rebound and made two game-sealing free throws with 2.9 seconds left. The Knicks came back from their successful Texas Triangle journey and outlasted the Pistons, but it was nothing to be proud of.
Nevertheless, it was the Knicks' third victory in four games and stirred up a little buzz for Thursday's first showdown against the Heat at the Garden since Miami became two-time defending NBA champions.
"We won the game, that's all that matters,'' Anthony said.
Raymond Felton made his return from a six-game absence and scored 12 points with six assists, but committed two key turnovers in the final minute.
The Knicks (12-22) pulled 1 ¹/₂ games behind the eighth-seeded Pistons for the final playoff berth. It was also a good day for the Knicks' playoff positioning. In tank mode, the sixth-seeded Bulls dumped Luol Deng to the Cavaliers for Andrew Bynum, whom they waived.
With the Knicks clinging to a 1-point lead, Anthony committed a charging foul with 27 seconds left after going to a badly executed isolation play and getting triple-teamed on a forced drive in the lane.
The Pistons had a chance to win it but Josh Smith, hounded by Anthony, threw up a horrendous airball and Felton grabbed the rebound. He was fouled, but missed the second of two free throws.
Anthony tipped the rebound to Kenyon Martin, who batted it back to Anthony. He was fouled and made both free throws for a four-point lead.
The Pistons had cut it to one point with 46 seconds left. Brandon Jennings missed a 3-pointer, Andre Drummond missed the follow and Charlie Villaneuva got an offensive rebound and was fouled. He made 1 of 2 to bring the Pistons to within 86-85 with 46 seconds left. That's as close as they got.
After falling behind 49-47, the Knicks busted out on a 15-0, game-breaking run in the third. Anthony hit three straight 3-pointers — two off Felton kickouts. Felton then banged in a jumper for a 60-49 lead with 5:21 left in the quarter.
During the big run, the resurgent Iman Shumpert, after a scoreless first half, sparked the Knicks. He grabbed the ball out of Smith's hands springing Anthony for a fastbreak dunk and 62-49 lead to cap the run.
Soon after, Smith had the ball knocked away again in the post, leading to a Shumpert fast-break layup and a foul. It put the Knicks up 69-52 with 2:54 left in the third.
The Knicks looked flat on the offensive end in the first half. They shot 33.3 percent from the field and just 44.4 percent from the free-throw line (4 of 9) as the clubs were tied at 41 at halftime.
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