The Knicks were thoroughly outplayed by the Nets in the first half, falling behind by as many as 17 points in the first quarter. Sparked by him, the Knicks fought back in the second quarter, but needed Anthony to score 22 of their 49 first- half points just to do so.
It wasn’t until 4:39 was remaining in the third quarter that another Knick scored in double figures. By that point, Anthony scored 27 points and kept the Knicks around, almost single-handedly, for the game’s first 30 minutes.
After trailing by as many as 17 in the first half, the Knicks took the lead on Raymond Felton’s 20 foot jump shot with about 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter. But on the ensuing possession, Deron Williams hit a 3-pointer that sparked the Nets to a 19-8 run and just like that, the Knicks’ deficit was 10.
Anthony, though, refused to let his team lose. Anthony shot 5-for-6 in the game’s final quarter and scored 15 points for the Knicks. In the game’s final three minutes, Anthony scored and broke ties at 91, 93 and 95 points.
That Anthony scored 45 points and carried his team on his back wasn’t the evening’s biggest surprise, though.
It was the fact that he passed the ball with the game on the line.
With 32 seconds remaining and the score knotted at 97, Anthony had the ball at half-court and was double-teamed by Deron Williams and Gerald Wallace. Instead of attempting to beat both defenders, Anthony recognized that Williams came out too far to help on him and Anthony, with the game on the line, in a game in which he was the star, on the very floor where he missed a game winner just two-weeks prior, did something that the old ‘Melo wouldn’t have done in that situation.
He passed.
Williams scrambled and Jerry Stackhouse collapsed on Tyson Chandler in the middle, and that allowed Kidd to sneak out to the 3-point line and eventually make the game winning shot once Felton found him.
The Knicks are not a title contender because Anthony scored 45 points against the Nets. The Knicks are a title contender because, finally, after all of these years, ‘Melo gets it.
The 45 points that Anthony ended the game with is the highest point total scored by anyone in Barclays Center this season. When I asked Anthony what that meant to him, considering he’s from Brooklyn, he chuckled at the notion that his scoring output meant anything.
“I’m pretty sure it’ll be broken, that doesn’t really mean anything.”
And when asked whether or not he was aware, ‘Melo shrugged. “I didn’t know, you just told me,” he said.
Sheer indifference.
And in all his glory, after carrying his team on his back and leading them to victory, this is what Anthony had to say: “It’s still early for us, it’s still early for me. We’re still getting better as a team, we’re still learning how to win basketball games, how to win tough games like this.”
Anthony’s indifference toward anything other than winning has been infectious. For his Knicks, it’s been the biggest difference.
Whenever most members of the national media mention ‘Melo, they make it a point of duty to refer to him as a great scorer.
But after leading his New York Knicks to a 16-5 record through 21 games, Anthony has earned the right to be called a great player.
“He’s an MVP guy,” coach Mike Woodson said after the victory when asked what he saw from Anthony. “He’s playing at such a high-level. He got double teamed, and he sacrificed the ball when that happened. To me, that says a lot… Guys around him, he trusts those guys to make shots.”
“I think sometimes, he’s misread,” Woodson said of Anthony. “This young man wants to win in the worst way and he’s playing just like that.”
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That’s something that Jason Kidd agrees with. “I think [Anthony] doesn’t get the credit he deserves,” Kidd said. “He makes the right plays and he has been doing that the whole season. With 45 points, he had every right to take the last shot.”
But instead, Anthony made the right basketball play.
He did it on the road in a game his team shouldn’t have had a chance of winning.
The Knicks have now won seven of their last eight games and must prepare for the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.
“The Lakers have been struggling a little bit as of late,” Anthony said. “Everyone tries to step up when they come to [Madison Square Garden] so we want to try to win that basketball game, too. We have a great opportunity to do something special here over these next couple of weeks. We have a homestand and we want to take advantage of that.”
As the Knicks prepare to begin a six-game homestand, the team has used crisp ball movement, pesky defense and good perimeter shooting to win games.
Anthony, its MVP, has led the charge. He’s one of the best scorers in the NBA, but he’s fully grasped the concept of making his team better.
And at the end of the day, more than the 40-point outings, that’s what’s going to help the Knicks maintain their standing and continue to be one of the NBA’s top teams.
With Kidd and Tyson Chandler and Anthony playing the role of Dirk Nowitzki, the Knicks have drawn endless comparisons to the Dallas Mavericks recent title team.
Back in December 2010, nobody gave the Mavs a chance to win the title, either.
How’d that end up?
Moke Hamilton is a Senior NBA Columnist for SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter @MokeHamilton for educated and original NBA banter.