Carmelo Anthony scored 40 points – giving him 90 in two games – as the New York Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks 95-82 on Wednesday for their 10th straight victory.
Anthony, coming off a 50-point effort in a win over Miami on Tuesday, scored 24 points in the first half. He shot 17 of 27 from the field and was 5 for 6 from the free throw line. Raymond Felton supported with three straight baskets in a key spurt.
Atlanta missed an opportunity to move into a share of fourth in the East and wasted a 25-point effort by Kyle Korver, who came up two points short of his season high.
Los Angeles beat Phoenix for its franchise-record 50th win as DeAndre Jordan had 20 points and 12 rebounds in the Clippers’ 126-101 win over the Suns.
Chris Paul added 14 points and 12 assists, Willie Green and Caron Butler scored 15 points each, and Blake Griffin had nine points, seven assists and five rebounds to help the Clippers end a three-game losing streak.
Wesley Johnson scored 20 points and Jermaine O’Neal added 18 for the last-place Suns
The Boston Celtics clinched a playoff berth as Jeff Green scored 34 points, including a 3-pointer with 45 seconds in a 98-93 win over the Detroit Pistons.
Paul Pierce and Brandon Bass scored 17 points each for the Celtics, who had lost two in a row and seven of their previous nine. But the victory, coupled with Philadelphia’s 88-83 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats, left Boston 81/2 games ahead of the 76ers with eight to play.
San Antonio’s Danny Green scored 20 points and Gary Neal added 16 to lead the Spurs over the Orlando Magic 98-84.
Already without Manu Ginobili, the Spurs rested Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard, and used Tim Duncan for only 14 minutes.
Maurice Harkless scored 18 points for Orlando.
At Salt Lake City, Danilo Gallinari scored 21 points, including nine straight in the fourth quarter as the Denver Nuggets downed Utah 113-96 to end the Jazz’ winning streak at five games.
Utah fell a half-game behind the idle Lakers for the eighth playoff spot in the West.
The Brooklyn Nets ended an eight-game road trip by crushing the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-95, giving the Nets a record for road wins in a season.
Brooklyn’s 21 road wins are the most for the club, which moved to the New York City borough from New Jersey this season.
At Portland, Oregon, Mike Conley scored 20 points as the Memphis Grizzlies downed the Trail Blazers 94-76, while David Lee had 23 points and 16 rebounds, as the Golden State shook off a slow start to ease past the New Orleans Hornets 98-88.
In other games, the Houston Rockets beat the Sacramento Kings 112-102, the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 107-98, the Charlotte Bobcats edged the Philadelphia 76ers 88-83 and the Toronto Raptors were 88-78 winners over the Washington Wizards.
