Knicks blast Hornets in 'must-win' before heading to London

Anthony, coming off his poor game vs. Chicago Friday, scored 13 straight points for the Knicks in the second quarter and they railed to take a 49-42 lead at halftime. In fact, Anthony outscored New Orleans, 18-12, in the quarter.

Anthony, had a slow start in the first period, going 1 of 8 for 2 points as the Hornets controlled the first 12 minutes. At one point, Anthony bricked a jumper over a double team when he had two teammates, Kidd and Copeland, wide open at the 3-point stripe.

But Melo kept coming and he exploded in the second quarter to score 18 of his 20 points. He wound up 7 of 17 in the half, with 6 rebounds and 2 turnovers.

Back at the power-forward position, he started going hard to the rack and drew foul after foul. Melo hit 5 of 6 free throws in the half. He got one superstar call over future star, No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis, hitting a 20-footer over the former Kentucky big man and getting a whistle. Replays showed Davis didn’t touch him.

The Knicks turned around defensively, too, in the second period, outscoring the Hornets 27-12. Consider the Hornets racked up 22 points in the game’s first seven minutes alone and it was quite the turnabout.

"We took the challenge defensively in the second quarter and we did a great job," Stoudemire said. "We understood this was a big home game and we got the win. We got off to a slow start because it was a little early out of our normal pattern."

Indeed, the Knicks defense was a disaster early on as the Hornets rang up 22 points after seven minutes. Copeland, starting at small forward, hit three straight early 3-pointers to keep the Knicks close. The Hornets, however, led by seven points after one quarter, 29-22, thanks to one of Smith’s brain camps.

He inexplicably fouled Brian Roberts as he was dribbling past midcourt with .5 seconds left in the period as he attempted a desperation trey. Roberts made all three free throws – with Woodson looking on in horror.

"I thought we started off slow defensively," Woodson said. "We have to start the game better.''

Prigioni aided the second-quarter surge with a lively performance. He stripped Ryan Anderson at midcourt and stormed in for a layup and became an relentless hound on defense. Prigioni also made 2 of 3 buckets for 5 points with 2 assists. Since Raymond Felton fractured his pinkie on Christmas, Prigioni has been asked to do more but seemed to have had hit a “rookie’’ wall.

Stoudemire looked great on two post spin moves for buckets and scored 4 points on 2 of 3 shooting in 8:29 of action. But he scratched up his hand on a scramble for a ball and was taken out in the second quarter. Stoudemire appeared to have words with Woodson before he left the game.

Before tip-off, Woodson said Stoudemire was no longer on a minutes restriction and can play up to 30 a night. Before today, Stoudemire’s cap was at about 20. Still, he came off the bench for the seventh straight time – with Woodson making indications he ultimately wants Anthony to be their starting power forward.

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