MIKE BROWN/EPA
Mike Woodson can’t watch as the Knicks give away another game, this time in Memphis.
MEMPHIS – Up river from where he set a record for three-pointers in an All-Star Game just two days ago, Carmelo Anthony couldn’t hit the Mississippi on Tuesday night.
Well, the big river is a good half-mile from the Memphis Grizzlies’ Fed Ex Forum.
Anthony certainly didn’t have his shooting eye from Sunday, when he knocked down eight three’s for the East in their victory over the West in New Orleans. He struggled early and made only one three-pointer the whole night in the Knicks’ 98-93 loss to the Grizzlies.
With Garden chairman Jim Dolan looking on during a rare appearance at a Knicks’ road game, Anthony’s supporting cast picked up slack at the offensive end in the second half. But even with Tim Hardaway Jr. bombing in three three-pointers and 14 points in the final quarter when the Knicks held a six-point lead in the final 6:00, it wasn’t enough.
Joe Murphy/NBAE/Getty Images
Tim Hardaway Jr. scores a team-high 23 points and single-handedly gets the Knicks back in the game, but it isn’t enough.
Hardaway’s final three, with 1:04 left, put the Knicks ahead for the last time, 93-91. But Mike Miller, who made plenty of big shots during his days in Miami, answered with his own three-pointer to put the Grizzzlies ahead for good, 94-93.
J.R. Smith had an open three-pointer with 24 seconds left, only to shoot an air-ball. Smith struggled all night as he wore a mask to protect a broken bone in his face. He missed six of eight shots. Then with the Knicks needing a three-pointer in the final seconds after a pair of free throws by Mike Conley, Hardaway and Pablo Prigioni failed to make three-point shots. All told,the Knicks missed 21 of their 27 threes.
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Anthony finished with 22 points on 8 of 22 shooting. For the Grizzlies, Conley had 22 points, and Miller knocked down five threes for 19 points.
Beforehand, Anthony revealed Dolan and the Knicks’ basketball executives will consult him before they make any trades by Thursday’s trading deadline. There’s still a chance that the Knicks will try to do something, even off this strong effort. They’re looking to upgrade their point guard spot and Raymond Felton struggled again and never got off the bench in the final quarter.
Joe Murphy/NBAE/Getty Images
Grizzlies guard Nick Calathes (r.) gets by Carmelo Anthony.
They have lost six of their last seven games and are now 20-33, falling farther behind No. 8 Charlotte, 24-30, which posted an impressive road win at Detroit on Tuesday.
At least the competition gets easier for the Knicks in the final three games on their current trip, with the lottery-bound Pelicans awaiting the Knicks in New Orleans for a game on Wednesday night. The Grizzlies, challenging Golden State for the final playoff spot in the West, were as tough as the Knicks expected.
The Knicks made only 38% of their shots in the first three periods, but then hit everything to start the fourth. They made nine of their first 12 attempts, including Anthony’s first three of the night, to take an 86-81 lead with 5:00 left.
This was exactly the post All-Star break that Anthony hoped for when he discussed what his team needs to do over the final 30 games to avoid missing the playoffs.
“This is our last game, every game is our last game and that’s the approach we have to take,” he said. “We want to approach it, win or go home. Everyone has to approach it with that mentality in these last 30 games. We all got to be on the same page. If we’re not all on the same page, it won’t work.”
They were on the same page, but it was still a loss.
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