Surging Knicks Beat the Heat

Carmelo Anthony scored 24 points, Andrea Bargnani had 19, and the New York Knicks beat the Miami Heat 102-92 on Thursday night for their season-high third straight victory.

Raymond Felton had 13 points and 14 assists for the Knicks, who seized control with a 16-2 run spanning the third and fourth quarters and beat the Heat for the fourth time in five meetings over the last two seasons.

New York was second to Miami in the Eastern Conference last season when it won the series 3-1, but there was little reason to suggest the Knicks were ready to compete with the NBA champions this season. New York is only 13-22, though it has won four of five in 2014.

With Tyson Chandler out sick and J.R. Smith stuck on the bench as an apparent punishment, Amare Stoudemire contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.

LeBron James scored 32 points for the Heat, who played without injured starters Mario Chalmers and Shane Battier and didn't get much from Chris Bosh, who was held to six points on 3-of-10 shooting.

(Copyright 2014 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)