NEW YORK // Turning around their fourth-quarter performance was a small step. Pablo Prigioni’s goal is for the New York Knicks to turn around their whole season.
“I believe we can change this situation (by) working hard every day and try to play 100 percent every possession, every day, and I don’t know, keep going,” Prigioni said. “We can’t be sad because of what we did in the last 20 games. We have to look in front and just keep going.”
Carmelo Anthony scored 35 points, Andrea Bargnani added 23 and the Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks 111-106 on Saturday night.
Prigioni had a season-high 11 points and was a spark in the decisive 11-0 run midway through the final period as the Knicks finished strong one night after a fourth-quarter flop cost them in a loss at Boston.
New York could have been looking at a three-game winning streak, but were outscored 22-13 in the final 12 minutes of their 90-86 loss to the Celtics.
“We weren’t stale tonight in the fourth quarter like we were last night,” coach Mike Woodson said. “We played what, four games in five days, and it was kind of nice to see us bounce back like that.”
Lou Williams scored a season-high 27 points in his best game since returning from knee surgery, but the Hawks committed 27 turnovers – most in the NBA this season – that led to 36 points and negated their 60.6 percent shooting.
“I think tonight was a night where the most aggressive team won. I think you give a lot of credit to the Knicks,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Defensively, they were creating a lot of turnovers, creating a lot of problems for us.”
Paul Millsap scored 18 but had nine turnovers and fouled out. Al Horford finished with 17 points.
The Knicks wore their regular whites instead of the alternate orange uniforms they’ve been wearing for weekend home games. They’re 0-6 in the orange, including a 110-90 loss to the Hawks at Madison Square Garden on November 16, when they caused a color clash with Atlanta’s red.
New York’s lead was just 87-83 before Anthony’s 3-pointer with 6:26 remaining. Prigioni then hit one, followed that with a steal and a layup, and then fed Bargnani for another 3 that made it 98-83 with 5:11 to play.
Starting for injured point guard Raymond Felton, Prigioni also had six assists and harassed the Hawks’ ballhandlers into a number of mistakes.
Kyle Korver scored 13 points, making four of Atlanta’s six 3-pointers in the third quarter to extend his NBA record to 93 straight games with at least one. That helped the Hawks pull to 81-77, but they coughed it up seven times in the fourth.
“We couldn’t capitalise off of the mistakes they made,” Horford said. “There were a few times we had a fast break in which we could have scored and we threw the ball away. I think that cost us the game. That kind of deflated us as a team.”
Still without injured starters Tyson Chandler and Felton, the Knicks also were missing Kenyon Martin, who has a strained left abdominal muscle. But they somewhat surprisingly had Amare Stoudemire, who said Friday he expected to be ordered to take the night off by the training staff in what was the team’s fourth game in five days.
Instead, Stoudemire – who was barred from playing on back-to-back nights earlier this season and had his minutes restricted coming off another knee surgery – said he felt great and wanted to play. And face it, the Knicks need all the help they can get. Woodson acknowledged that Stoudemire probably wouldn’t have played if the Knicks were 15-5, but they’re only 7-16. Stoudemire scored nine.
Atlanta had a one-point lead with under 5 minutes left in the second quarter before Tim Hardaway Jr made a 3-pointer and dunked, starting a 12-0 run that gave the Knicks a 52-41 advantage.
JR Smith got the start for Martin after taking just one shot in the loss at Boston. Smith said after the game he was focusing on distributing to his teammates, an idea so out of character that Woodson had trouble keeping a straight face when asked about it Saturday.
OTHER SATURDAY RESULTS
Lakers 88, Bobcats 85
Guard Kobe Bryant scored a season-high 21 points and handed out eight assists as the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a three-game losing streak with an 88-85 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.
The Lakers scored the final nine points of the game after the Bobcats took an 85-79 lead into the final 2:50.
It was the Lakers’ (11-12) first win since Bryant, who also had eight assists but seven turnovers, rejoined the team on December 8.
Trail Blazers 139, 76ers 105
One of the NBA’s most explosive offensive teams met the one featuring the most porous defense, with predictable results.
Forward LaMarcus Aldridge had 20 points and 16 rebounds and the Western Conference-leading Portland Trail Blazers drilled a franchise-record 21 three-pointers en route to a 139-105 rout of the Philadelphia 76ers (7-18).
Nicolas Batum added 17 points and nine assists for the Blazers, who hit a season-high point total while improving to 20-4. Eight players cracked double figures for Portland.
Clippers 113, Wizards 97
Point guard Chris Paul efficiently dominated throughout with 38 points and 12 assists as the Los Angeles Clippers capped their lengthy road trip by hammering the Washington Wizards 113-97.
Paul made 11 of 14 field goals, including five of seven three-pointers, and went 11 of 11 from the free throw line for the Clippers (16-9).
Guard Jamal Crawford scored 17 points, and center DeAndre Jordan had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Point guard John Wall led the Wizards (9-13) with 24 points and 12 assists.
Heat 114, Cavaliers 107
The hot-shooting Miami Heat defeated the hot-tempered Cleveland Cavailers 114-107.
The Heat shot 70 percent from the floor in the first quarter and was still at 60 percent at halftime but cooled off in the second half as their 19-point lead was erased.
But the Heat responded with an 11-1 run down the stretch to put the game away.
Heat forward LeBron James had a game-high 25 points to go with nine rebounds, nine assists and four steals.
Cavs coach Mike Brown was ejected in the second quarter, apparently upset that no foul was called when Cavs forward Alonzo Gee had his layup attempt blocked by Heat forward Shane Battier.
Raptors 99, Bulls 77
The Toronto Raptors piled up a season-high 26 assists and rolled to a 99-77 over Chicago.
Guard Kyle Lowry led five players in double figures with 16 points. Forward DeMar DeRozan and center Jonas Valanciunas scored 15 each, while forward Amir Johnson added 14.
Toronto (9-13) is 3-1 since trading high-scoring forward Rudy Gay to Sacramento. The Bulls (9-13) are 3-9 since losing guard Derrick Rose to knee surgery.
Mavericks 106, Bucks 93
Jose Calderon scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting and Shawn Marion provided a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds as Dallas, minus Dirk Nowitzki, still easily beat Milwaukee.
Brandan Wright came off the bench to score 19 on 9-of-10 shooting with six rebounds in just 19 minutes for the Mavericks (14-10), as well.
The Bucks (5-19) were paced by one of their only bright spots this year, rookie John Henson, who had 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Spurs 100, Jazz 84
Tim Duncan scored 22 and pulled down 12 rebounds, adding three assists too in leading San Antonio (19-4) past overmatched Utah (6-20).
Tony Parker supplied 15 points and seven assists and Kawhi Leonard scored 13 on 6-of-8 shooting, too.
Trey Burke scored 20 on 9-of-18 shooting for the Jazz.