NEW YORK _ Carmelo Anthony watched the ball bounce off the back of the rim, ripped off his headband and spiked it on the floor as he walked off the court.
The immediate cause of Anthony's frustration was that he had just missed being a hero and picking up a big win for Knicks when he missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, letting the Raptors hold on to a 92-91 win Monday night at the Garden.
Yet that wasn't the only legitimate reason for Anthony to be disgusted and annoyed by the loss. Perhaps the biggest reason was that when it came to crunch time, the Knicks had no answer for DeMar DeRozan.
The Toronto guard poured in a game-high 37 points, including the Raptors' last 12 points in the final three minutes. The most painful two points came with 1.9 seconds left. After DeRozan backed down Derrick Rose, he turned around and made a fadeaway jumper over Rose's outstretched arm. The Knicks had a foul to give, which Hornacek had told the team before the winning basket.
"I think it was great 'D', better 'O'," Rose said. "I contested the shot. When I switched off on him other times, I contested the shot pretty well, too. I don't know what to say after that."
Said Hornacek: "DeRozan made a good shot. We had a look at the end."
Anthony, who scored 37 points and hit the game-winner with 0.3 of a second left against the Sixers on Saturday night, led the Knicks with 24. He also came up with several big plays in the final quarter to keep the Knicks alive. He shot only 9-for-26, however, including 2-for-9 on 3s.
"It was a tough one," Anthony said of the loss. "Especially like that. A couple of plays, a couple of rebounds and it could have gone our way."
The Knicks played with lots of energy in the first half, opening a 17-point lead in the second quarter. But they let the Raptors back in the game in the third quarter, scoring only 14 points and shooting 4-for-16.
It was a frustrating day even before tipoff for the Knicks. Earlier, they announced that Joakim Noah had undergone season-ending knee surgery. Then they signaled they were looking beyond this year by waiving backup point guard Brandon Jennings to open more playing time for rookie Ron Baker.
Coach Jeff Hornacek bristled before the game at suggestions that the team, which has a first-round pick, was considering tanking the season.
"As a team, we're not thinking about losing," Hornacek said. "If that's what it comes down to and then we get a different draft pick, we'll worry about it then. We're still trying to win. Because Brandon was waived doesn't mean that we're not trying to win these games."
Anthony was certainly trying to win the game down the stretch. Still, he said he was shocked he was left wide-open for the final shot.
"I wasn't expecting to get a look like that," he said. "It happened. I missed it. There's not so much you can say about that. It was all about the shot. I had a wide-open shot. I made a tougher shot the other day. I should have made that shot."
