I GOT THIS! Carmelo Anthony cheers as he and Knicks teammates watch the final minutes of last night’s 108-86 rout of the Magic at the Garden. (Reuters)
Carmelo Anthony answered the bell and knocked the Magic all the way back to Disney World.
This was a true fantasy Wednesday night. No Amar’e Stoudemire. No Jeremy Lin. No Jared Jeffries. No way!
A sore-groined Anthony and the depleted Knicks were spectacular Wednesday night in building a ridiculous 39-point lead in the third quarter against the powerful Magic and smacking them, 108-86, in a stunning Madison Square Garden rout.
In every phase, Anthony was terrific, gutting it out with 25 points in 26 minutes, hauling in five rebounds with six assists, limping at times, grimacing at others, riding the stationary bike near the bench when he checked out of the game.
Anthony scored inside, outside and made every right pass. He didn’t have to play the fourth quarter as the rout was on.
Anthony is now the power forward in Stoudemire’s absence, opening the door for Iman Shumpert to start at small forward. Shumpert scored a career-high 25 points, making four 3-pointers and getting seven rebounds.
Melo was hardly a malcontent last night — just a leader to his teammates.
“Seeing Melo out there limping and pushing through is an inspiration to all of us,’’ said gimpy starting point guard Baron Davis, who is playing with a bad hamstring, but finished with 11 points, six assists, seven rebounds and just two turnovers. “I gutted it out. He fired us all up.’’
The Knicks are now 8-1 under Mike Woodson — the same surge Mike D’Antoni’s Knicks had in February during Linsanity. This run hasn’t garnered international attention, but the NBA is watching them now as the Knicks moved above .500 (26-25) for the first time since they were 6-5 in early January.
“It’s not so much I have to step up, it’s just at times like this is always fun times,’’ Anthony said. “Guys have to step up their games because the playoffs are around the corner. It’s fun times. Why wouldn’t we want to play this type of basketball.’’
The moment Anthony was taken out he hobbled over to the bike and pedaled. Davis did, too, sharing the ball and bike.
“The trainers didn’t want it to tighten up,’’ said Anthony, whose original groin injury cost him seven games in February. “The groin is a sensitive area. I was just trying to block it out and not think about it. It is one of those things that hopefully goes away soon. ’’
Anthony, who made nine of 15 shots, scored early inside on post-ups, then hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the third quarter when the Knicks went on a 21-0 run.
“Tonight I wanted to get down there [in the post],’’ Anthony said. “I knew I couldn’t move too much. I told guys let me try to get things closer to the basket and then it opens up everything.’’
The defense excelled again and the bench continued its big play with Steve Novak going for 16 points, hitting four 3-pointers, including one at the first-half buzzer that sent the Knicks into a 57-41 lead at halftime.
The Knicks’ top goal is getting out of the seventh or eighth seed so they don’t have to face Miami or Chicago in the first round, and perhaps face No. 3 Orlando. They still have a chance to catch Atlantic Division leader Philadelphia, whom they trail by 2¹/₂ games. They are four games behind sixth-seeded Atlanta in the Eastern Conference and face the Hawks tomorrow on the road.
If Anthony, whose season had been a train wreck, continues like this, there’s no telling what they can do.
“There’s no frustration in him anymore,’’ Tyson Chandler said. “He is doing a great job on both ends. He’s playing incredible defense for us right now, banging and helping me out on the glass, and we all know he can score the ball.’’
The Knicks bludgeoned Orlando with a 32-12 second quarter, then didn’t stop the barrage as they come out for the third like lightning bolts. Anthony, who had made just 2-of-18 from 3-point range in the previous seven games, scored 12 points in the third, including eight of the Knicks’ first 10 points in the quarter, all on jump shots. He made five of seven shots in the period.
As they kept pounding away in the third, Shumpert scored on a fastbreak layup after Dwight Howard fumbled the ball. The highlight of the 33-18 third quarter came when Davis threw an alley-oop for Chandler on the full run. Chandler leapt to the ceiling to ram it home for an 80-49 advantage. A Shumpert 3-pointer gave them their biggest lead at 88-49.
“I’m not sitting there saying I can’t believe it,’’ Woodson said. “We’re in this stretch because our defense put us in this position. It’s been stifling. That’s what we’re going to have to be to win a title — defense and rebounding.’’
Stoudemire could be back in 2-4 weeks, but the Knicks have so much depth, they seem immune to it.
“This season has been rocky, a lot has been going on, a lot has happened,’’ Anthony said. “With the coaching change, we’ve been playing extremely well. We’re locked in.’’