NEW YORK _ Carmelo Anthony decided to lace up his sneakers and wear the Knicks' home white uniform perhaps for one last time instead of spending what could be his final game with the team on a bench in a blazer.
But Anthony was on the bench with a towel draped over his head for the last 15:03, despite chants of "We want Melo" late in the game. If it was Anthony's farewell game as a Knick it ended the way it started _ with a win.
The Knicks closed out 2016-17 with a 114-113 victory over the 76ers at the Garden and finished the season 31-51.
The Knicks tied Minnesota for the sixth-worst record in the league. A random drawing will determine which of the two teams has a better chance to win the lottery.
The Knicks were expected to contend for a playoff berth, but they missed the postseason for the fourth straight year. They had made it Anthony's first three seasons after he forced a trade from Denver in 2011.
Anthony played 23 minutes, and finished with 17 points. He shot 7-for-15 and didn't make a basket in the second half. Anthony was seen giving his sneakers to a courtside fan as the final seconds were winding down.
"Who knows what the future is going to hold, if he's here?" Jeff Hornacek said before the game. "I think that's what everybody's mentality is right now until something changes. He gets along with all our players. I think he wants to go out there and end the season the right way and play.
Anthony practiced Tuesday, but Hornacek said he didn't expect Anthony to play because of the sore left knee that kept him out of the prior two games. Then Anthony told him at shootaround that he wanted to play.
Anthony's future likely will be the Knicks' biggest offseason story.
He has dropped hints in the weeks leading up to this final game that he's ready to leave New York.
He said he didn't know his role with the team, and that he could "see the writing on the wall." Anthony also sounded as if he was looking forward to his exit interview with Jackson so he could let him know how he feels about everything that's been said and done.
As of now, the Knicks are not planning to make Anthony or Jackson available to the media after that meeting. Traditionally, the lead executive, head coach and players meet with reporters after they clean out the lockers. It might be for good, in Anthony's case.
With his name in trade rumors during the season, and some of the things Jackson said or tweeted about him, Anthony became the scapegoat for why the Knicks were losing. But Hornacek said it was a total team effort. "I don't think you ever look at one guy or one thing," Hornacek said. "When you don't make the playoffs it's a variety of things. You can go into a lot of ifs and buts. But guys I think tried their hardest. Sometimes it doesn't work out.
"I don't think there's anything Carmelo did or didn't do that had any effect. He played what we expected. We just weren't able to get it together."
