Carmelo Anthony scored 26 points as the New York Knicks eased past the Detroit Pistons 102-87, to hand them their second straight, Thursday in London.
The O2 Arena again proved luck for Anthony. Five months back he clinched the Olympic gold medal for the United States and Thursday he helped his team to defeat the Pistons.
"It felt good out there," the Associated Press quoted Anthony as saying. "I definitely had some flashbacks out there. Running out there on the court, just being in the O2 Arena."
The Knicks outshined the Pistons in the first quarter 29-17 and again outscored them 27-24 in the second to take a 15-point lead in the first half.
Anthony, who ended a two-week fasting period few days back, was looking energetic and scored 18 points in the first half to ensure his team took a big early lead.
"I felt better than I was the last couple of games," Anthony said. "I'm back eating right, eating what I'm supposed to be eating."
Anthony extended his streak of 20-point scores or more in a game to 25 consecutive games, which is his career best.
"He got off to such a hot start, and then he just kind of played as the game came to him," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "He was getting double-teamed and I thought he did a great job in sacrificing the basketball, which he has to do."
Considering Anthony's record, his outstanding performance in the first half did not come as a surprise to Pistons coach Lawrence Frank.
"You know going in, there's no secrets, he's the best first quarter-scorer in the league," Frank said.
For the Knicks, Amare Stoudemire added 17 points, J.R. Smith had 16 points and six rebounds, Steve Novak contributed with 13 points and Tyson Chandler finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds.
For the Pistons, Will Bynum was the top scorer with 22 points, while Kyle Singler added 15. Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond had 11 points apiece.
The Pistons tried to launch a comeback in the third quarter. They had a 16-2 run to cut the Knicks' lead to 67-63, before, spurred by Anthony, the Knicks woke up. Stoudemire hit a free throw and Smith hit a jump shot. At the end of the third period, Anthony had a lay-in to take the score to 75-63.
In the fourth quarter, Detroit's Bynum scored seven straight points to cut the Knicks' lead to 83-75, but after that New York did not give them any chance.
"We came here to win a game, so it's very, very disappointing," Frank said. "This is not a vacation. We're not tourists.
"We came here to play a competition ... on an international stage, which is a privilege and an honor to be selected, so it's disappointing that we came up short and didn't play our best."
The Knicks scored 27 in the fourth quarter and stopped the Pistons at 24 to win the game by 15 points.
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