NOT SO MELO
Knowing that his team needs every win possible to get back into the playoff race, New York all-star forward Carmelo Anthony didn’t take to his team blowing a 14-point lead and losing. The defeat dropped the Knicks to 4 ½ games back of Charlotte for the eighth seed.
``It’s just another game that I feel that we gave away,’’ said Anthony, who scored 44 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and hit six 3-pointers. ``We were up and had a comfortable lead. They fought back and never quit. They sent it to one overtime and then another overtime. Oladipo stepped up big-time in those overtimes. We couldn’t put a string of defensive stops together and we lost the game.’’
Anthony seemed to cool off late in the game after scoring 30 points in the first three quarters. He had just six points in the fourth quarter and the first overtime before warming up again. He scored all eight of New York’s points in the second OT, drilling two long 3-pointers and two free throws. But it wasn’t nearly enough.