Anthony frustrated as Knicks fall to Mavs
Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki (41), of Germany, drives against New York Knicks' Amare Stoudemire (1) during the first half. (March 6, 2012) Credit: AP
DALLAS -- Carmelo Anthony looked totally out of sync and frustrated during and after a game that was the latest indication that the Knicks aren't the cohesive unit they were when Jeremy Lin led them to seven consecutive wins.
Their 95-85 loss to the Mavericks Tuesday night was the Knicks' fifth defeat in eight games and will raise questions about whether Anthony can play when he's not the focal point of the offense.
Amar'e Stoudemire was Tuesday night, and rightfully so. He was 10-for-18 from the field and scored 26 points. Anthony had a miserable night, finishing 2-for-12 with six points. He bolted after the game without talking to the media. When a reporter caught up to Anthony he said, "Not tonight." But a little later he returned and still was frustrated.
"We lost," Anthony said. "Losses don't sit well with me. We've got to get better, that's all."
Anthony was scoreless in the second half, missing all four shots he attempted. The Knicks (17-19) actually played better when he was on the bench.
They erased a 19-point third-quarter deficit and went ahead 78-77 with 4:55 left. But Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks on an 18-7 game-ending run. He scored 11 of his 28 points in the final 4:34 and 24 in the second half.
Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said he thought about keeping Anthony on the bench down the stretch. But he said some of the guys looked tired and he wanted to bring in fresh legs. He reinserted Anthony with 3:57 left and the Knicks down two.
"Everything goes through your mind," D'Antoni said. "It's tough. You try to read it. It's a gut feeling. I just thought that our guys were losing it a little bit and hoped the other guys would come in and pick it right up.
"It's tough to put him in that situation. It's not easy, but I don't know how you get around it."
Overall, the Knicks, who are in San Antonio Wednesday night, looked like a shell of the team that beat the Mavericks last month in New York. The Mavericks wouldn't let Lin have his way with them again.
Lin was 4-for-13 and finished with 14 points and seven assists. That is half of the totals he had against Dallas in the Knicks' win at the Garden on Feb. 19. Anthony didn't play in that game. Since he's returned from his groin injury the Knicks are 2-4.
The Knicks started slowly and fell behind by 17 in the second quarter Wednesday night. Anthony's last basket came with 1.7 seconds left in the first half. Both makes were layups.
"It was just one of them nights," Anthony said. "It's frustrating out there when things are not going your way, when you lose a basketball game the way we lost."
Down 77-63 to start the fourth, the Knicks reeled off 15 consecutive points. Steve Novak buried two threes and a tough Stoudemire basket inside gave the Knicks their first lead since the first two minutes of the game.
It was short lived. Nowitzki made the Mavericks' first basket of the fourth on the next trip, starting a 14-0 run. Jason Kidd (15 points) hit a three-pointer and Nowitzki made a tough baseline jumper over Stoudemire in the burst that made it 88-78 with 2:27 left. Anthony took only one shot in crunch time.
"I think right now we're just trying to find the right spots, the rhythm," Anthony said. "In that second half, we were going to Amar'e. He had it going early. We were looking for that. We wanted to exploit that. As far as me, I'm all right. I'll figure out what I have to do out there and adjust whatever way I have to."
