Anthony's passing was even better. His touch pass to Stoudemire led to a first-half dunk, and he dropped a pass backward to Tyson Chandler early in the second for a layup and foul, hopping behind the basket in delight as the shot fell through the net.
It was Anthony's inability — or, critics said, unwillingness — to move the ball the way D'Antoni preaches that made it hard for the coach's system to work whenever the All-Star flourish was on the floor. New York had gone 2-8 since Anthony returned from a groin injury.
He heard boos again during introductions for the second straight home game, but seemed much happier than in recent games, at one point running to midcourt to greet teammates while waving a towel after a Portland timeout.
NOTES: Reserve forward Jared Jeffries, one of the Knicks' best defensive players, returned to the lineup after missing four games with a sore right knee. The Knicks open a home-and-home series with the Indiana Pacers on Friday at Madison Square Garden. ... Camby, a former Knick, delivered a hard foul on Landry Fields that was originally called a flagrant-2, which would have been automatic ejection, before it was downgraded to a flagrant-1 after review.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Reader Comments