The New York Knicks delivered a thrilling victory over the Denver Nuggets 129–125 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday for their eighth win in a row, and Amar’e Stoudemire set a new franchise record for the most consecutive 30-point games with eight.
The Stoudemire-led Knicks managed to pull up by as much as 10 points in the third quarter after a back-and-forth first half that ended with New York up by one point 66–65. Stoudemire only scored six points at the half.
Denver came back, eventually taking a one-point lead six minutes into the fourth quarter.
But then Stoudemire came back into the game after sitting with his fifth foul and immediately ignited the Knicks offense by knocking down three consecutive baskets. The Knicks led by five points with three and a half minutes to go.
“In the first half guys were definitely collapsing in on me, and it was hard to get to the basket,” Stoudemire told MSG. “[Danilo] Gallinari, Landry [Fields], and those guys did a great job shooting from the outside.”
“I figured in the second half they would have to figure out what they wanted to do because we shot the ball so well. In the second half, it just went my way,” Stoudemire said.
A driving layup by Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson and a 3-pointer by Chauncey Billups tied the score at 120–120 with just over a minute to go.
But Stoudemire quickly answered with a pull-up jumper to capture his 30th point for the night and surpass Willie Naulls’s record of seven consecutive 30-point games set in 1962.
The Nuggets didn’t blink an eye despite the thunderous cheers from the crowd. New York native Carmelo Anthony slashed through the Knicks defense for a powerful dunk on the next play to again tie the score with under a minute to go.
Anthony received a strong ovation from the crowd during the introduction of the starting lineups.
Then with 30 seconds on the clock, Raymond Felton made a good pass to Wilson Chandler for a 3-pointer from the left elbow to lift the Knicks.
An offensive foul by Anthony against Gallinari forced the Nuggets to foul after that, and Felton hit both foul shots with 15 seconds on the clock to pull New York up by five points.
The pressure was right back on the Knicks though, when reserve forward Ronny Turiaf unwisely contested a 3-point shot by Anthony and was called for a foul.
Anthony made all three shots to pull Denver back within two points, but good foul shooting by Felton sealed the Knicks win in the final seconds. The team shot a solid 24-of-26 from the line.
Felton had a double-double with 19 points and 17 assists, and Chandler scored 27 with the entire starting lineup in double-digit scoring.
The Nuggets were carried by Anthony and Nene Hilario with 31 points and 26 points, respectively. Former Knicks forward Al Harrington contributed 19 points from the bench.
Sunday’s game was the Knicks highest scoring game of the season. They haven’t had an eight-game win streak in 16 years.
The streak comes amid a fairly weak schedule though, and the Knicks now have to get ready to face some tougher competition in the surging Boston Celtics on Wednesday and the Miami Heat on Thursday.
The Stoudemire-led Knicks managed to pull up by as much as 10 points in the third quarter after a back-and-forth first half that ended with New York up by one point 66–65. Stoudemire only scored six points at the half.
Denver came back, eventually taking a one-point lead six minutes into the fourth quarter.
But then Stoudemire came back into the game after sitting with his fifth foul and immediately ignited the Knicks offense by knocking down three consecutive baskets. The Knicks led by five points with three and a half minutes to go.
“In the first half guys were definitely collapsing in on me, and it was hard to get to the basket,” Stoudemire told MSG. “[Danilo] Gallinari, Landry [Fields], and those guys did a great job shooting from the outside.”
“I figured in the second half they would have to figure out what they wanted to do because we shot the ball so well. In the second half, it just went my way,” Stoudemire said.
A driving layup by Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson and a 3-pointer by Chauncey Billups tied the score at 120–120 with just over a minute to go.
But Stoudemire quickly answered with a pull-up jumper to capture his 30th point for the night and surpass Willie Naulls’s record of seven consecutive 30-point games set in 1962.
The Nuggets didn’t blink an eye despite the thunderous cheers from the crowd. New York native Carmelo Anthony slashed through the Knicks defense for a powerful dunk on the next play to again tie the score with under a minute to go.
Anthony received a strong ovation from the crowd during the introduction of the starting lineups.
Then with 30 seconds on the clock, Raymond Felton made a good pass to Wilson Chandler for a 3-pointer from the left elbow to lift the Knicks.
An offensive foul by Anthony against Gallinari forced the Nuggets to foul after that, and Felton hit both foul shots with 15 seconds on the clock to pull New York up by five points.
The pressure was right back on the Knicks though, when reserve forward Ronny Turiaf unwisely contested a 3-point shot by Anthony and was called for a foul.
Anthony made all three shots to pull Denver back within two points, but good foul shooting by Felton sealed the Knicks win in the final seconds. The team shot a solid 24-of-26 from the line.
Felton had a double-double with 19 points and 17 assists, and Chandler scored 27 with the entire starting lineup in double-digit scoring.
The Nuggets were carried by Anthony and Nene Hilario with 31 points and 26 points, respectively. Former Knicks forward Al Harrington contributed 19 points from the bench.
Sunday’s game was the Knicks highest scoring game of the season. They haven’t had an eight-game win streak in 16 years.
The streak comes amid a fairly weak schedule though, and the Knicks now have to get ready to face some tougher competition in the surging Boston Celtics on Wednesday and the Miami Heat on Thursday.
