Carmelo's last-second jumper lifts Knicks

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- After the Grizzlies picked the Knicks' pockets all night long, it was Carmelo Anthony who stole the game. Anthony buried a 16-foot baseline jumper with five-tenths of a second left to give the Knicks a 110-108 win in a wild game Wednesday night at FedEx Forum.

Anthony, who missed a shot with 22.2 seconds left, drilled the winning shot over guard Tony Allen and right in front of a roaring Memphis bench.

"They was just yelling, 'That is off! It's off, it's off!' '' Anthony said. And as he backpedaled with that omnipresent grin, Anthony, who relished his first heroic moment as a Knick, returned the message: "I do this!''

He had to do it, after the Knicks blew a 16-point lead going into the fourth quarter and a 10-point edge with about four minutes to go and managed only 14 points in the period. Especially after Anthony fouled Zach Randolph with 14.2 seconds left that led to a three-point play to tie it at 108.

After the game, a smiling Mike D'Antoni pulled Anthony aside and said, "I see you really wanted that.''

"I had to redeem myself after that foul,'' Anthony said. "Whether I fouled him or not, I still had to redeem myself. And I wanted to.''

Anthony had 31 points, his second straight 30-point game, for the Knicks (34-29), who won their third straight and have their highest win total since the 2003-04 season. They play the Mavericks Thursday night to complete an extremely challenging road back-to-back before a national audience on TNT.

"We know we can win tough games down the stretch,'' Amar'e Stoudemire said. "That's what this showed. Going into Dallas, it's going to be a crazy environment. The Mavericks are ready for us and we're ready for them.''

Stoudemire had 26 points but was victimized by Memphis' aggressive defense for six turnovers.

He and Anthony showed their developing chemistry on the floor on that final play, as D'Antoni opted not to call timeout. Stoudemire and Anthony set up for a pick-and-roll, but Anthony put up his hand to hold Stoudemire off at the last second.

"I didn't wave him off, don't put that in the paper,'' Anthony said. "I told him to take his time coming over there. I think in that situation they just wanted to play straight up.''

D'Antoni doesn't like calling timeouts in those situations because he prefers not to let the opponent set up a defensive scheme. This time, it worked.

"It was just Amar'e and Melo trying to figure it out on the side,'' D'Antoni said. "We have two of the best finishers in the game and both of them are over there, so it's a handful for anybody.''

Randolph had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Allen scored 22 for the Grizzlies (36-30). Mike Conley had 20 points, six assists and five of Memphis' 13 steals. The Grizzlies scored 28 points off 17 turnovers.

Memphis had the benefit of a 35-4 advantage on free-throw attempts. The Knicks shot well through three quarters (60.3 percent) and made 12 of 21 from three-point range. But they shot only 6-for-20 in the fourth.

Toney Douglas had 18 points and 10 assists in yet another strong game for the Knicks, who played their fifth straight without Chauncey Billups (thigh bruise).