Surging Knicks easily top Hornets 102-80

[November 21, 2012]  NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points and the New York Knicks extended the undermanned New Orleans Hornets' losing streak to four games with a 102-80 victory Tuesday night.

Raymond Felton and J.R. Smith each added 15 points. Felton scored all of his points on five 3-pointers as New York hit 14 3s as a team.

Tyson Chandler grabbed 12 rebounds for the Knicks, who've won two straight since their first loss of the season and are 8-1 for only the third time in franchise history. The other two times, the 1969-70 and 1972-73 seasons, they won championships.

Ryan Anderson, starting in place of Anthony Davis, led the Hornets with 15 points. Davis was ruled out shortly before tip-off because tenderness in his left ankle.

Rookie Austin Rivers added a career-high 14 points and Brian Roberts 13 for New Orleans.

It might not have mattered much if the Hornets had Davis' shot blocking ability at their disposal. The Knicks scored only 20 points in the paint, but still shot 44.6 percent (37 of 83) thanks to stellar jump shooting. They finished 14 of 36 (38.9 percent) from 3-point range.

The Knicks came in attempting just more than 26 3s a game this season and seem to have figured out the art of positioning themselves for long rebounds off of missed perimeter shots. New York had 13 offensive rebounds, 17 second-chance points and badly outrebounded New Orleans overall, 49-36.

The Knicks led most of the game, going up 12, at 29-17 at the end of the opening quarter while the Hornets went more than four minutes without scoring.

Anthony scored 19 on 8 of 9 shooting in the first quarter alone, taking advantage of his matchup against rookie Darius Miller later in the period. At one point, Anthony spun past Miller on the dribble and drained a floater in the lane while being fouled by Hornets 7-foot Jason Smith.

The Knicks led by 14 early in the second quarter before the Hornets briefly made it competitive again with a 13-0 run. The spurt included two 3s by Anderson, the second giving New Orleans a 36-34 lead.

It was still as close as 43-42 late in the second quarter after a tough driving floater by Rivers, but Felton made a pair of quick 3s during an 8-0 run that also included an 18-footer by Anthony, and the Knicks were quickly back up by nine before taking a 53-48 lead into halftime.

New York then opened the third quarter on a 10-4 run that included another Anthony jumper and Ronnie Brewer's 3 to make it 63-52. The lead remained in double digits from there on, growing as large as 26 on James White's fast-break dunk in the fourth quarter.

NOTES: Davis is day to day and he is traveling with the Hornets on a four-game road trip that begins Wednesday night at Indiana. ... Knicks coach Mike Woodson was called for a technical foul in the first quarter by official Scott Foster. Woodson and Foster could be seen bickering shortly before the technical was assessed. ... Anthony has led New York in scoring in eight of the Knicks' first nine games. ...The Hornets have now given up 100 or more points in each loss during their current four-game skid.

[Associated Press; By BRETT MARTEL]

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