New-look Knicks flip script
December 26, 2011 - 2:02 am
NEW YORK -- Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks know it will never be easy against the Celtics.
Not beating them in one game, and certainly not beating them for a division title.
But pulling out the kind of nail-biter that's long gone Boston's way in this rivalry only reinforced the Knicks' belief that they can do it -- and even the Celtics see a difference.
Anthony scored 37 points, including a pair of tiebreaking free throws with 16 seconds left, and New York survived a seesaw season opener Sunday to edge the Celtics, 106-104.
"Most importantly for us, as a new team, we showed something," Anthony said. "We came together as a team. Even when we got down, there wasn't no frowns. Nobody was down. Mentally everybody was still up about it, and we willed our way to this win."
Amare Stoudemire added 21 points and Toney Douglas 19 for the Knicks, who led by 17 in the first half, trailed by 10 in the fourth quarter, then pulled out a thrilling victory in the delayed opener to the 2011-12 season.
Rajon Rondo had 31 points and 13 assists, nearly leading the Celtics back without an injured Paul Pierce. But Kevin Garnett missed a jumper just before the buzzer, the kind of shot Boston always seems to make against the Knicks.
"They seem to have a little swag and confidence behind them," Garnett said. "It's good for the city. It's good for the Knicks. I'm going to see how consistent they are with that, but for the most part, Carmelo played really well."
Brandon Bass had 20 points and 11 rebounds in his Celtics debut, and Ray Allen added 20 points.
Garnett finished with 15 points. He and Allen had a sleepy Christmas start, with Rondo keeping the Celtics in the game until they got going in the second half.
"I thought we were as soft as you could be in the first quarter, and then I thought we joined in to the 2011-12 season, and from that point on I was pretty happy with the way we played," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "I thought we competed well."
But it wasn't enough against the Knicks, who withstood a costly knee injury to first-round pick Iman Shumpert to beat the team that swept them out of the first round of last season's playoffs. Shumpert will miss two to four weeks with a sprained right knee ligament.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
■ THUNDER START STRONG -- At Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant scored 30 points to help the Thunder win their season opener with a 97-89 victory over the Orlando Magic.
Durant led the league in scoring the past two seasons, including averaging 27.7 last season. On Sunday, he was 11 of 19 from the field and added five rebounds and six assists.
James Harden finished with 19 points, and the Thunder, who led by 18 at the end of the third quarter, held Orlando star Dwight Howard to just 11 points.
Ryan Anderson scored 25 points and Jameer Nelson 18 for the Magic, who shot just 37 percent from the field and had 18 turnovers.
■ PAUL SHINES IN CLIPPERS DEBUT -- At Oakland, Calif., Chris Paul had 20 points and nine assists in his much-anticipated Clippers debut, Blake Griffin added 22 points and seven rebounds, and Los Angeles beat the Golden State Warriors 105-86 to spoil Mark Jackson's opener as a first-time coach.
Monta Ellis had 15 points and eight assists after his grandmother's death earlier in the day in Mississippi, and David Lee added 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Warriors, who cut the Clippers' lead to 78-77 with 9:35
left on Brandon Rush's 3-pointer before Los Angeles pulled away.