No Melo, no problem for Knicks

MIAMI - Raymond Felton scored a season-high 27 points, and the New York Knicks connected on 18 three-pointers to more than offset the absence of Carmelo Anthony while topping Miami for the second time this season, beating the Heat, 112-92, on Thursday night.

Steve Novak scored 18 points, J.R. Smith added 13 and Tyson Chandler scored 13 for the Knicks, who won their fifth straight and moved 1 1/2 games clear of Miami for the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks made eight three-pointers in the third quarter alone, the most by any NBA team in any quarter so far this season.

Anthony sat out, one night after needing five stitches to close a cut on the middle finger of his left hand.

LeBron James nearly picked up his second straight triple-double - 31 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists - in Miami's second straight loss. Dwyane Wade scored 13 points, Chris Bosh had 12 and Udonis Haslem added 10 for the Heat, who fell to 8-1 at home.

Rasheed Wallace scored 12 and Jason Kidd added 11 for the Knicks, who finished 18-for-44 from three-point range.

It was tied at 53 at the half, and the third quarter changed everything for the Knicks. Kidd made a three-pointer, Felton followed with consecutive treys and New York was up by nine with 9:42 left in the period and the Heat seemed stunned.

New York was only getting started. In all, it was an eight-treys-in-8-minutes barrage that decided this one, with five players getting in on the act for the Knicks.