Carmelo Anthony scored 27 points and chipped in seven rebounds as the New York Knicks eased past the New Orleans Hornets 100-87 to end their three-game losing streak.
Anthony had a slow start against the Hornets in the first quarter, but his outstanding performance in the second quarter saw New York take huge lead and that proved instrumental in their victory.
He scored only two points, missing the majority of his shots in the first period. In the second, he scored 18 points, while the whole New Orleans team could score only 12.
"I'm kind of going through something right now with my own self, trying to find some energy and things like that. But we'll be fine," the Associated Press quoted Anthony as saying. "We bounced back pretty well, I bounced back pretty well, stuck with it and won the game."
Anthony had fasted for two weeks. He did not eat meat or carbs during that period, which is why he felt exhausted in the first quarter.
"I usually do it sometimes just to get some clarity in my life and just spiritual reasons. I'm done now. I can't do it no more. I surrender," Anthony said.
Chris Copeland added 22 points and made nine out of 15 attempts from the field for the Knicks, while Amar'e Stoudemire finished with 12 points.
The Hornets outscored the Knicks 29-22 in the first quarter, but Anthony's brilliance helped New York to a 27-12 scoreline in the second.
The Knicks, who entered the second half with an eight-point lead, were outscored by the Hornets 25-22 in the third quarter.
"Obviously losing the last three before this made it a must-win," Steve Novak said. "We can't drop another one at home, especially going into a week where we're going to have a trip. It would have made it a much longer week if we hadn't. This was a game where we had to come out and play better than we have."
For the Hornets, Eric Gordon was the top scorer with 22 points, while Anthony Davis added 13 points and chipped in eight rebounds. New Orleans had won their last four games, but against the Knicks they looked a little tired after the first quarter. They shot only four 3-pointers, whereas the Knicks had 11.
"You look at how many open looks they got from the (3-point line), recognizing that Novak can shoot the ball, those kind of things are correctable, but it's tough to watch it," coach Monty Williams said. "It's OK to lose in the NBA because it's part of it, but when you lose because you didn't compete for 48 minutes, it's tough to swallow."
Greivis Vasquez scored 11 points and six assists for New Orleans and Roger Mason had nine points off the bench.
With the help of Novak's pair of 3-pointers and Copeland's five points, the Knicks made a 13-2 run in the beginning of the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 84-68, before comfortably seeing of their opponents' challenge for the win.
The Knicks, who lost five of their previous seven games, will next play the Detroit Pistons on Thursday.
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