ORLANDO, Florida (AP) ― In their first four games, the New York Knicks surprised many by consistently performing above preseason expectations and jumping out to an unbeaten start.
Another night and another victory later, the Knicks’ breakout beginning doesn’t seem to have an end in sight.
Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points, J. R. Smith and Raymond Felton each added 21, and the New York Knicks held off the Orlando Magic 99-89 Tuesday night to improve to 5-0.
The victory extended New York’s NBA-best start. The Knicks have won their first five games for the first time since opening the 1993-94 season 7-0 on their way to the NBA finals. The Knicks remain the league’s only unbeaten team.
Toronto Raptors forward Andrea Bargnani drives against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday. (AP-Yonhap News)
“Defense, we buckled down,” Anthony said. “We kind of slowed them down, kept them off the glass rebounding. Once we had a chance to rebound the basketball, get out and make some shots, we didn’t turn back from there.”
J.J. Redick scored 18 points and Arron Afflalo added 13 for the Magic, who were stunted by 20 turnovers that led to 24 New York points.
Orlando dropped its fifth consecutive game and continues to struggle without starters Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu.
“You have to want to win more, simple as that,” Afflalo said. “There’s not one man on this team that’s going to do it, (we) pretty much have to want it more.”
New York coach Mike Woodson has made no secret of the fact that for the Knicks to continue their recent output long-term, keeping his older team well-rested will be a necessity.
A three-day rest following their dominating win over Dallas on Friday was perfect timing for a Knicks squad that played its first three games in just four nights.
It showed against and Orlando team whose younger players were fearless attacking New York early on.
But so much youth on the floor also gave way to some careless mistakes late in the second half. Orlando pulled to 82-80 before the Knicks went on a 13-4 spurt to take a 95-84 lead with 2:36 to play and put the game away.
Nets 114, Cavs 101
NEW YORK (AP) ― Deron Williams had 26 points and 10 assists, Joe Johnson scored 25 points, and the Brooklyn Nets beat the road-weary Cleveland Cavaliers 114-101 on Tuesday night for their third straight victory.
Brook Lopez added 23 points for the Nets, who opened a 20-point lead at home for the third straight game, but this time barely let up and beat the Cavaliers for the sixth time in eight meetings after losing nine in a row, mostly during the LeBron James era.
Anderson Varejao scored a career-high 35 points and grabbed 18 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who were wrapping up a six-game, coast-to-coast trip and played much of the game with the urgency of a team that wanted to be home.
They haven’t played there since Nov. 2, their second game of the season, and dropped the final four games of the trip to finish 1-5.
Williams and Johnson, perennial All-Stars who have been nicknamed “Brooklyn’s Backcourt,” put things together for the first time since the Nets acquired Johnson from Atlanta over the summer. Neither had a 20-point game before Tuesday, and Johnson had been shooting only 36.2 percent.
The Nets held Orlando below 20 points in a franchise-record seven straight quarters during a home-and-home sweep and were allowing 90.4 points per game, fourth-best in the NBA. But the offense had been spotty, particularly once they got ahead. They blew a 22-point lead last week in a loss to Minnesota and most of a 20-point advantage Sunday against the Magic.
This time, there was no letup, in part because they just ran by a Cleveland team that didn’t have its legs. Brooklyn finished with a 23-8 advantage in fast-break points.
Kyrie Irving had 34 points and eight assists for Cleveland, which started its trip Nov. 3 in Milwaukee, went out to California for two stops, then hit Phoenix and Oklahoma City before wrapping up here. Cavaliers coach Byron Scott told his players Tuesday morning not to let their minds drift to thoughts about being back home, but their defense never showed up in Brooklyn.
Charlotte 92, Washington 76
Toronto 74, Indiana 72
Portland 103, Sacramento 86
San Antonio 84, LA Lakers 82
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
