This is one way for the Knicks to turn things around -- simply have their best player go on an insane scoring tear to singlehandedly drag the team to victory.
Carmelo Anthony turned in a performance for the ages on Friday, pouring in 62 points to lead the Knicks to a 125-96 win over the Bobcats.
The initial reaction from casual observers would be to dismiss the team the scoring outburst came against, but Charlotte is seventh in the league in defensive efficiency, and came into this contest holding down the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference -- which, by the way, had them sitting three games ahead of New York in the standings.
Anthony got things started with 20 points in the first quarter, before following it up with 17 in the second and 19 in the third, then finishing with just six in the fourth in less than five minutes of action with the game so out of hand. His final line was 62 points on 23-of-35 shooting, to go along with 13 rebounds and zero assists in just under 39 minutes of action.
The 62-point total was not only a franchise record, but it also set the record for modern day performances at Madison Square Garden since 1968. Kobe Bryant held the previous building record with the 61 he put up in 2009, which bested a 60-point performance from Bernard King back in 1984.
The point total is obviously one that isn’t achieved all that often, or even on anything close to an annual basis. According to Basketball Reference, a player has scored at least 62 points in a game only 17 times since the 1963-64 season -- a span of almost 40 years. The list includes players like Wilt Chamberlain, Tracy McGrady, George Gervin, Rick Barry, Pete Maravich, David Robinson, David Thompson, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, with Bryant accomplishing the feat most recently with a 65-point effort against the Portland Trail Blazers in 2007.
The Knicks still have their issues, but the win snapped a five-game losing streak. And Anthony’s otherwordly performance finally gives the local media a positive story line to pursue after publishing so much negativity about the team over the first half of the season.
Here’s Anthony’s shot chart from this one, and by the looks of things, he should really stay away from shooting threes on the right side of the floor. Hey, at least Mike Woodson will have something to coach his star player on when watching film the next day.
