Boston, MA (SportsNetwork.com) - The New York Knicks were finally all smiles Friday after snapping a 10-game losing streak with a 101-95 road victory over the Boston Celtics.
Rumors of in-house fighting between players and problems with first-year head coach Derek Fisher filled the headlines during New York's skid, but the return of Carmelo Anthony and a solid showing for the bench changed the storyline -- at least for a day.
"We had the will to win tonight. A total team win," Anthony said.
Anthony missed Wednesday's loss against the Spurs with a lingering knee issue but was his usual productive self with 22 points on 9-of-20 shooting.
Amar'e Stoudemire chipped in with 20 points, while Tim Hardaway, Jr. and J.R. Smith netted 16 and 12 points, respectively, off New York's bench.
Jeff Green paced the Celtics with 29 points, but Boston, which had won three in a row a home, turned it over 18 times and never led in the second half.
"We're a team that needs every basket we can get. Whether that's one person, two or three people, we need to all play well to win," Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said.
A back-and-forth second quarter ended with Hardaway draining a 3-pointer to give the Knicks a 51-46 lead at the break, and a Stoudemire putback extended the margin to 67-56 late in the third.
Kelly Olynyk's 3-pointer cut Boston's deficit to 75-69 heading to the fourth, and the Celtics drew up a play for the 7-footer with the game on the line.
Boston was trailing, 98-93, inside the final minute when Olynyk got the ball back off an inbounds pass and airballed a 3-pointer.
The Knicks grabbed the rebound and sealed the outcome at the foul line.
Game Notes
The Knicks were two losses shy of tying the franchise record ... New York's only other road win this season came on Oct. 30 against Cleveland ... Knicks guard Iman Shumpert suffered a dislocated left shoulder ... Celtics Marcus Smart exited with a left Achilles strain ... Boston's Tyler Zeller netted all 19 of his points in the first three quarters, while Rajon Rondo finished with 10 assists, seven rebounds and just two points.
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