NBA: Melo pours in 35 as Lakers fall short against Knicks

In his first game after setting a Knicks-record 62 points, Carmelo Anthony scored 35 as New York dispatched the Los Angeles Lakers, 110-103, Sunday (Monday, PHL time) at Madison Square Garden.

Back-to-back wins for the Knicks elected their record to 17-27, while the Lakers have lost a whopping 16 of their last 19 games, to fall to 16-29.

Melo, #Knicks too much for Lakers in balanced effort. RECAP: http://t.co/ezhrkvuMQY pic.twitter.com/CtktIAQ1pj

— NBA New York Knicks (@nyknicks) January 26, 2014

Anthony had already logged 20 points by halftime on 7-of-13 shooting, as team led 51-47 at the midway mark. However, Jodie Meeks suddenly caught fire in the third, making all five of his shot attempts, including four from downtown, for 16 big points. That allowed the Lakers to make it a two-point affair, 83-81, with 12 minutes left to play.

Former D-Leaguer Manny Harris tied things up at 83-all, but the Knicks managed to build several five-point leads. Back-to-back hits by Anthony raised that to seven, 105-98, 2:33 remaining, before a Raymond Felton jumper made it a game-high eight-point difference, 107-99.

Ryan Kelly found Pau Gasol for a 19-footer, 107-101, and the Lakers forced a missed from Anthony on the other end. However, Kendall Marshall couldn't capitalize, as his three-pointer was offline. Now needing to foul with under a minute left, JR Smith made a split, and then gave up a whistle to send Nick Young to the stripe, where he hit a pair, 108-103.

With 27 ticks to go, the Knicks called a timeout before successfully inbounding the ball to point guard Raymond Felton, who hit both, 110-103. Needing to hurry, the Lakers lost the ball out of bounds, closing this one out.

Anthony's 35 points came on 14-of-31 shooting, in addition to four rebounds, five assists and a block. Raymond Felton added 20 points and five assists, while the bench duo of Tim Hardaway Jr. and JR Smith managed 18 and 16 markers, respectively. Tyson Chandler put together a double-double of 13 points and 14 boards.

The Lakers got 24 markers from Jodie Meeks, while Pau Gasol provided 20 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Manny Harris came off the bench for 18 points.

The visiting LA side lost despite shooting 52.0 percent from the field, allowing the Knicks a 47.8 percent clip. The home team though dominated the glass, 45-35, including 16-5 on the offensive end. The Knicks also had more assists, 21-16.  - AMD, GMA News