re Garden since 1997-98 ... Hornets forward Michae

New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Carmelo Anthony became the 40th player in NBA history to score 20,000 points, leading the New York Knicks to a 96-93 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday. Anthony, who entered the game just three points shy of the 20,000-point plateau, finished with 28 and hit the eventual game-winner for New York, which has won two straight since a 24-point loss to Chicago in its season opener. Amare Stoudemire contributed 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench and Iman Shumpert added 15 points in the win. Al Jefferson paced the Hornets with 21 points, while Kemba Walker tallied 16 points and Lance Stephenson nearly deposited a triple-double with 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Gary Neal and Walker scored on back-to-back possessions late in the fourth to give the Hornets a 93-90 lead. Pablo Prigioni then drove the lane on the Knicks ensuing touch and kicked it over to Shumpert, who nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game. Following a miss from Walker at the other end, Anthony drilled a contested jumper from the elbow to give New York the lead for good with 1:24 remaining. Neither team came up with points on their respective possessions with under a minute to go. Stephenson then turned the ball over on a pivotal five- second violation inbounding at half court. I dont think it was a five second, more like three, Stephenson said. Shumpert missed a deep jumper following a timeout and Charlotte had a chance to tie with 16.6 seconds left. Walker drove the lane, pumped to get Prigioni in the air, but his jumper was long. Anthony corralled the miss and split a pair of free throws and Charlotte didnt get a shot off before the buzzer. Its a work in progress defensively, Knicks coach Derek Fisher said. Theyre effort in just trying to do what were asking them defensively is really high. Were still making it hard for teams to score in a lot of situations and its good to see. Anthony opened the game with a jumper, then made history as the sixth-youngest player to reach 20,000 points with a 3-pointer minutes later. The trey from Anthony was a part of a 15-5 run to open the game, and the Knicks lead was as high as 12 in the quarter before Charlotte trimmed the deficit to 29-21 heading into the second. New York slowly built its lead to a game-high 15 in the second, but the Hornets used a 20-7 run over the final 4:23 to trail 52-50 at the break. As the shot clock was set to expire late in the third, Anthony rose up and canned a deep 3-pointer just inside the Knicks logo at center court to tie the game at 69-69. The game went back and forth over the final minutes of the quarter, with Charlotte taking an 80-79 lead into the fourth. Game Notes Charlotte is 6-22 at Madison Square Garden since 1997-98 ... Hornets forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist went up for a defensive rebound early in the first, collided with Shane Larkin and slammed to the floor, grasping at his right shoulder as Charlottes medical team ran onto the court. He shook off the fall at first, but later would leave the game and not return ... The largest lead in the second half for both teams was three ... There were 22 lead changes and 10 ties. Bryan Trottier Jersey .Y. - OK, it is done. Paul Martin Jersey . There will be no Down Under four-peat for Djokovic, as the eighth-seeded Swiss slugger Wawrinka outlasted the second seed 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7 at Melbourne Parks Rod Laver Arena in yet another five-set thriller in their burgeoning rivalry. http://www.penguinsauthenticofficial.com...sard-jersey/.ca NHL Power Rankings, finally overtaking the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks, who rank second and third this week. Mario Lemieux Jersey . Rockhold." Known as an aggressive striker, Belfort (23-10) instead paced himself as the engaged in the early going and showed restraint by not overcommitting against the larger Rockhold (10-2). But when the opportunity presented itself, Belfort delivered an incredible spinning heel kick that landed flush on Rockholds chin and sent him toppling to the floor. Paul Coffey Jersey . The Tinkoff-Saxo rider was still dealing with the right shin he broke in a crash which ended his Tour de France on Stage 10. He hoped to defy his doctors and race in the home Grand Tour he won in 2008 and 2012, but he says there have been complications in his recovery.Spains 5-1 humiliation at the hands of the Netherlands on Friday came as a shock to everyone who follows the beautiful game. It also served as a reminder that at the highest level of the game, the margin for error is incredibly small. Up 1-0 in the first half after Xabi Alonso had converted a dubious penalty kick, Spain had a glorious chance to double their lead in the 43rd minute. An exquisite reverse pass from Andres Iniesta (pictured below) sent David Silva in alone on the Dutch goal. Unfortunately, Silvas finish wasnt up to the same standard as Iniestas pass. (CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE) Just one minute later, the Netherlands equalized through a spectacular Robin van Persie diving header. With no apparent danger coming from the Netherlands, Spain set up in a very narrow defensive shape. (Spains opponents will do well to take note – exploiting this is a key to success against the reigning World Cup champs.) Yet just two passes later, the ball was in the back of the Spanish goal. The first pass came from Bruno Martins Indi to Daley Blind, who took up a wide position on the left flank. It was a free pass, with no Spanish player in a position to put pressure on Blinds first touch. (CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE) Once Blind received the ball, Spains back four was vulnerable to the diagonal ball over the top to van Persie – because Sergio Ramos, the left central defender, fell asleep and got caught ball-watching. (CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE) With no pressure on the ball, Blind was able to spot that van Persie managed to get a step in front of his marker, Ramos. (CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE) The ball from Blind was exquisite, and it was matched only by the finish from van Persie - a diving, looping header over Iker Casillas in Spains goal. (CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE) So what could Spain have done differently? In this situation, when the ball went wide to Blind, Gerard Pique was tight with Arjen Robben, the first striker – as he should be.dddddddddddd His defensive partner, Ramos, needed to be in a deeper covering position, so that he could support Pique while also nullifying the threat of the ball in behind to van Persie. (CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE) It is only a matter of Ramos being 3-4 yards deeper, but at the World Cup, that is sometimes all that is needed to create scoring opportunities. Had Spains back-four been properly aligned (highlighted in yellow, above), Blind would never had played the ball forward for van Persie to run onto because Ramos would have been in a position to head the pass away. This goal, scored right before the half-time break, was a real blow to Spains confidence. From nearly doubling their lead a minute earlier, to conceding a wonder goal to the Dutch, the momentum turned in favour of the Netherlands going into the second half. The Spanish collapse after the break – where they conceded four unanswered goals – should have been prevented, though. The second goal was down to a combination of wonderful skill from Robben and slack marking from Pique and Ramos; the third and fourth goals down to mistakes from Casillas, with the fifth goal a classic counter-attacking move from the Dutch. It would be naïve to presume that this result – as shocking as it was – is an indication that Spains style of play is now ineffective. La Roja still possess a squad full of some of the worlds most talented players, and they will continue to employ their tiki-taka possession game to great effect. Players like Alonso, Xavi, Iniesta and Silva are still a joy to watch, and they will go into their next game with Chile knowing they must win, as a loss will effectively end their tournament. What it does prove, though, is that even the best are fallible on an off day. ' ' '