KNICKS DEFEAT NETS…CARMELO 45 PTS…KIDD WITH CLUTCH 3 POINTER

Knicks Beat Nets: Carmelo Anthony Scores 45 In Rally, Jason Kidd Hits Key Three-Point Shot

By BRIAN MAHONEY 12/11/12 10:05 PM ET EST

Carmelo Anthony #7 of the New York Knicks drives against Gerald Wallace #45 of the Brooklyn Nets during their game at the Barclays Center on December 11, 2012 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City

  Let’s not forget this guy.  Now that I get to watch Kidd everyday, I realise just how great a player he is.

NEW YORK — Carmelo Anthony scored a season-high 45 points, Jason Kidd made the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 24 seconds left, and the New York Knicks rallied from an early 17-point hole to beat the Brooklyn Nets 100-97 on Tuesday night.

Kidd finished with 18 points against his former team, who used to dominate the Knicks when he played in New Jersey. Now the series is tied at 1-1 since the Nets moved to Brooklyn, both games coming down to the tense final minutes.

Andray Blatche scored 23 points in place of Brook Lopez, who missed his sixth straight game with a sprained right foot. Deron Williams added 18 points and 10 assists, and Reggie Evans grabbed 18 rebounds, but the Nets lost their fifth straight.

Gerald Wallace scored 17 points, but both he and Williams missed potential tying 3-pointers on the last possession after Kidd broke a 97-all tie with his 3-pointer from the left side while being fouled by Jerry Stackhouse.

Kidd missed the free throw in an otherwise terrific effort for the 39-year-old point guard who helped carry the Knicks while fellow point guard Raymond Felton was struggling through a 3-for-12 night. Kidd had six rebounds and six assists, playing 38 minutes.

There were wild swings in momentum and crowd support in the second half, once the Knicks had gotten themselves untracked after the Nets threatened to run them off the floor in the first quarter.

The crowd was loud and energetic, the players and fans eventually matching the playoff-like intensity from the first meeting, a 96-89 Nets victory in overtime here on Nov. 26. That had left both teams tied atop the Atlantic Division at 9-4, but the Knicks have since gone 7-1 to surge to the top of the Eastern Conference, while Brooklyn has gone 2-5.

It occasionally felt like a Knicks home game, with an “MVP! MVP!” chants for Anthony and a black-and-orange dressed Spike Lee sitting courtside and yelling at the referees.

But the Nets had plenty of chances to send their fans home happy.

I haven’t enjoyed a Knick’s game this much in years.  I was in a retaurant and keep running to the bar to watch the game.  There was a Laker’s fan sitting at my table.  He said to me “The Knnicks should have kept D’Antoni and we should have gotten Woodsen.”  Wow, times are cahnging.  EDB