D. Clarke Evans/NBAE via Getty Images
Carmelo Anthony (l.), J.R. Smith (c.) and Raymond Felton celebrate their win over the Spurs as the Knicks - the only unbeaten team in the NBA - move to 6-0 on the young season.
NY KNICKS 104, SPURS 100
SAN ANTONIO ? Now the Knicks and their fans are allowed to get excited, even if it?s a week shy of Thanksgiving.
The Knicks are still the only undefeated team in the NBA after pulling out a pulsating 104-100 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.
SMITH SKIPS NY NIGHT LIFE, EMBRACES 6TH MAN ROLE
On a night when the Knicks did little right for a good part of the second half, and when Carmelo Anthony couldn?t escape some of the best defense he will see all season, they still showed the moxie to recover from a 12-point deficit midway through the final quarter.
On the stretch shooting of Raymond Felton (game-high 25 points), J.R. Smith (17) and three 3-pointers from Jason Kidd (14), the Knicks notched their sixth win of the season and sent the Spurs to only their second defeat in nine games.
?It shows me that this team is for real," said Knicks coach Mike Woodson. ?We beat a great team, a well-coached team. It?s the first time I?ve ever won in San Antonio."
The Knicks hadn?t won here since March of 2003. Often, they weren?t even in games, as was the case last season. But even with Anthony resigned to having to act as a playmaker as the Spurs hit with him with multiple defenders and held him to nine points on 3-for-12 shooting, they never gave up during their rousing comeback at the AT&T Center.
During the fourth quarter when the Knicks erupted for 32 points, they had other players who found the basket at critical times. Kidd hit three huge threes in the final 6:00, while Smith overcame a shaky start to add nine critical points, and Felton outplayed Tony Parker down the stretch.
?The thing I told Carmelo right away was that they were not going to let him score," Kidd said. ?I saw it all the time when I was with Dallas, and how the Spurs would approach Dirk (Nowitzki). They do a great job taking away your No. 1 scorer. But Melo still gave us a great game with the other things he did, including his rebounding."
Even still, by the middle of the last quarter it looked as if the Knicks were going to suffer their first defeat of the season. They were slumping offensively and then the Spurs took an 89-77 lead with 7:00 left as Tiago Splitter scored 13 points in the opening 5:00 of the fourth quarter.
That the Knicks didn?t throw in the towel and decide to start getting ready for Friday?s game in Memphis against another tough opponent, the Grizzlies (6-1), says a lot about how this team has come together quickly. Facing adversity for the first time this season, they passed the test, holding the Spurs to only 11 points in the final 5:00.
?We?re getting better," Anthony said. ?This was definitely a true test for us, as far as us sticking together as a team and doing it at both ends."
They had a cushy schedule to start, and played teams that either didn?t care (see: the Heat in the opener) or were down a key man or two (see the Sixers, minus Andrew Bynum).
?You?ve got to blame ? who does the schedule, the computer?" Anthony said. ?You can?t blame us. We?re playing the teams that are on our schedule."
And winning every time out, so far.
Source: http://feeds.nydailynews.com/~r/nydnrss/sports/basketball/knicks/~3/qDISRFfM7fE/story01.htm
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