MIAMI _ Carmelo Anthony used to have to battle LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh whenever he made the trip to South Beach. But the Heat is an injury-riddled team in transition that has some players you wouldn't know without a roster sheet or box score in front of you.
Anthony wouldn't let the Knicks lose to this group.
The Knicks' offense was struggling and Anthony gave it a needed lift. They eventually put away Miami, 114-103, for their fourth straight win.
Anthony matched his season high with 35 points. He shot 13-for-27 and even showed some lift in his legs, throwing down two alley-oop dunks.
He led the Knicks (12-9) to their ninth win in their last 13 games. It's the first time they've been three games above .500 since they won 54 games and the Atlantic Division title in the 2012-13 season.
But claiming a fifth straight victory will be difficult with James leading the NBA champion Cavaliers into Madison Square Garden Wednesday night. That's what made this game so important for the Knicks. They didn't want to waste a golden opportunity against a short-handed team.
The Knicks got double-doubles from Kristaps Porzingis (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Joakim Noah (10 and 10). Kyle O'Quinn scored 12 points. Derrick Rose finished with 10 points, but he left the game with back spasms in the second half and didn't return.
Miami (7-14) was led by Goran Dragic's 29 points. Hassan Whiteside added 23 and 14 rebounds.
The Heat was without four of its top eight players: Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters, Josh Richardson and James Johnson. But Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek kept cautioning that teams that are banged up are dangerous because the seldom-used players thrust into big minutes want to prove themselves.
The Heat was determined early on to surprise the Knicks. Miami led by nine three different times in the second quarter, and missed a couple of opportunities to extend to double digits.
After trailing 47-38 late in the quarter, the Knicks scored 15 points in the final 3:31 and were down one at the half.
Noah scored the first three baskets on offensive rebound tip-ins. Anthony made the last 3, including the Knicks' first 3-pointer after an 0-for-11 start from deep, and a turnaround jumper at the buzzer that made it 54-53.
Another Noah put-back gave the Knicks the lead to start the third quarter. There were nine lead changes and ties before the Knicks created some separation.
Anthony sparked a 14-4 run that put the Knicks ahead 82-72 with 49.8 seconds left in the third. Anthony scored nine points in the surge, on two 3-pointers and a traditional three-point play.
The Knicks opened the fourth scoring six straight points and pushed their lead to 95-81 after Lance Thomas' jumper with 7:50 to go. Miami never got it under eight the rest of the way.
Hornacek looked at this as the start of seven-game span that could really "catapult" the Knicks. After playing the Cavaliers on Wednesday night, the Knicks go west for a five-game trip against the Kings, Lakers, Suns, Warriors and Nuggets.
"I think this is a good stretch for us now," Hornacek said before the game. "If we can come out of here at 5-2 it would be fantastic. If we pulled something like that off, it might catapult us the rest of the year."
It's not often that coaches break down games that way. But Hornacek believes the Knicks are coming together and building something in an Eastern Conference that he believes is wide open beyond the top two teams, Cleveland and Toronto.
"If we get it together _ we're playing better now _ we can compete with any of these teams," Hornacek said. "I think our guys are veteran guys who believe they're as good as any other team in the league."
