Knicks tighten grip on No. 7 seeding
Carmelo Anthony scored 39 points, and the New York Knicks outlasted the Hawks, 113-112, on Sunday in a game in Atlanta between two playoff-bound teams still battling for postseason seeding.
Carmelo Anthony scored 39 points, and the New York Knicks outlasted the Hawks, 113-112, on Sunday in a game in Atlanta between two playoff-bound teams still battling for postseason seeding.
The Knicks are a half-game ahead of the 76ers for the No. 7 spot in the East. The Hawks hold the No. 5 spot in the East and still have hopes of securing home-court advantage in a likely first-round matchup against the Celtics.
The Hawks took their final lead at 112-111 on Joe Johnson's three-pointer with 1 minute 50 seconds left. Anthony countered with a jumper 10 seconds later for the final margin.
Amar'e Stoudemire started at center for the Knicks in place of Tyson Chandler, who was resting a sore knee.
Heat rub out Rockets
LeBron James had 32 points and eight rebounds, and the Miami Heat pulled away in the final minutes to beat Houston, 97-88, in Miami and eliminate the Rockets from postseason contention.
Mike Miller scored 11 for injury-depleted Miami, which still has a mathematical chance of catching Chicago for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
World Peace on attack
Metta World Peace was subdued and contrite in the Los Angeles Lakers' locker room, apologizing to Oklahoma City's James Harden for throwing an elbow that sent them off in the second quarter.
They both missed a beauty of a game in Los Angeles that could echo into the postseason for two division leaders.
Kobe Bryant scored six of his 26 points in the second overtime alongside an unorthodox Lakers lineup, and Los Angeles rallied from an 18-point deficit in the second half for a 114-106 victory over the Thunder.
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined to miss 42 of their 56 shots for the Thunder. Los Angeles' rally set an early tone for their possible second-round playoff matchup.
Yet everything after halftime was colored by the drama and violence that occurred just before the break.
World Peace had just dunked over Durant and Serge Ibaka on a fastbreak and was headed back upcourt when he ran into Harden. While pounding his chest with his right arm, World Peace raised his left elbow over Harden's shoulder and cleanly hit Harden in the back of the skull.
Harden dropped to the court and stayed down for about a minute before heading to the locker room. Ibaka and other Thunder players challenged World Peace, but were kept apart, and World Peace was ejected after officials reviewed the tape. - Associated Press