CLEVELAND — The Knicks have found a starting lineup, found a way not to panic in the fourth quarter and have found their way back into the playoff race.
With Carmelo Anthony thriving in the new Big 3 alignment, he reversed his trend of stinking out Cleveland, shaking off a bad first quarter to post 26 points as the Knicks topped the Cavaliers, 107-97 at Quicken Loans Arena for their third straight win.
Amar'e Stoudemire scored 17 points with 12 rebounds and three blocks as the new starting power forward and Tyson Chandler notched 15 points and 11 rebounds. The expensive trio combined for six blocks.
Yeah, it's working as the Knicks had a chance to move within 3 ½ games of the eighth seed with collapsing Atlanta playing a late game at the Clippers.
The Knicks blew a 15-point lead in the second quarter, trailed by 3 early in the fourth before stabilizing themselves. They came two points short of all five starters reaching double figures again. J.R. Smith, the new starting shooting guard, added 17 points and point guard Raymond Felton, out of his rut, ran the show with gusto and posted eight points with six assists and five boards.
Meanwhile, Iman Shumpert, who scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds, is playing more relaxed coming off the bench.
The icing on the cake for the Knicks occurred with 2:30 left when Felton fired a bullet underneath for Chandler for an easy lay-in. The Knicks' resurgent point guard then scored on a floater to clinch it at 101-90 with 2:00 left.
The highlight play of the night came in the second quarter and put the Knicks up 15. Felton grabbed the rebound and whipped an outlet pass for Smith, igniting a fastbreak. Smith raced to the basket and knocked the ball off the backboard perfectly for Stoudemire, who caught it and laid it in, jacking the lead to 15 points. Nevertheless, Woodson laid a death glare at Smith for the circus play.
Kyrie Irving, the Cavaliers superstar point guard, scored 30 points with eight assists but the Knicks defense bottled up his mates.
After a 1 of 7 start in the first quarter, Anthony got into high gear and scored 12 points in the second as the Knicks led by as many as 15 points. Anthony and Stoudemire (13) combined for 27 first-half points in the new Big 3 starting frontcourt.
Anthony made a huge 3-pointer to stop a slide with 2.9 seconds left in the third to put the Knicks into the lead at 77-76 after three. But they were outscored 26-19 in the third period.
The Knicks bounced back in the fourth after the Knicks fell behind by 3. In a key sequence, Anthony blocked Spencer Hawes from behind and Prigioni drilled a left-wing 3-pointer, moving the Knicks ahead 88-81 with 8:00 left.
After a Cavaliers miss, Anthony struck again — banging in a 3-pointer to lift the Knicks up 81-71 with 7:30 to go.
In another momentum-killer for Cleveland, Shumpert stripped Hawes and Anthony hit a smooth turnaround jumper to give the Knicks an 11-point bulge, 94-83.
The Cavaliers trailed 58-50 at intermission. Cleveland went on a 9-2 run to start the third quarter after the 35-minute halftime due to the retirement jersey ceremony for center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
The delay didn't have a positive effect on the Knicks. The Cavaliers got off on a 9-2 run to start the third quarter to get within 60-69 after a fastbreak hoop for Tristan Thompson.
The Knicks continued to fall apart late in the third as Tim Hardaway Jr. launched an airball. Shumpert lost the ball out of bounds after botching a spin move. Pablo Prigioni threw a pass to a maroon Cavalier jersey on a penetration.
LeBron James attended his old haunt, Quicken Loans Arena, as a spectator to honor Zydrunas Ilgauskas, whose No. 11 jersey was retired at halftime. He sat in a suite and was not announced to the crowd. He played with
Ilgauskas in Cleveland — and Miami. James came onto the court after the ceremony was over — for a few moments.
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