http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/sports/basketball/new-york-knicks-facing-a-struggling-denver-nuggets-team-end-seven-game-skid.html 2014-11-16 22:54:53 Knicks, Facing a Struggling Nuggets Team, End Seven-Game Skid Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points as the Knicks (3-8) fended off a couple of second-half spurts by the Nuggets (2-7), who are scuffling through their schedule. === Having gone two weeks without a victory, the Forgetting their troubles for an afternoon, the Knicks ended their seven-game losing streak by roughing up the Nuggets, Carmelo Anthony J. R. Smith also scored 28 points, going 10 of 16 from the field. Anthony shot 10 of 14 as the Knicks limited the Nuggets to 39 percent shooting. Amid his team’s well-chronicled growing pains, Coach Derek Fisher said he could sense that Anthony was being “robotic” within the team’s offense. Anthony had been so conscious about getting teammates involved, Fisher said, that he was sacrificing much of his aggression — everything that makes him such a dynamic scorer. “We just encouraged him to relax a little more, trust his instincts,” Fisher said, “and I think it’s worked well for him.” Over the last two games, Anthony appears to have found his familiar rhythm. After scoring 46 points in a narrow loss to the Utah Jazz on Friday night, Anthony paced the Knicks to a 23-point halftime lead over the Nuggets. Midway through the second quarter, Anthony pulled up in transition on consecutive possessions, burying a 3-pointer and then a long jumper for a 55-37 lead. There was no hesitation from him. The rout was on, although Denver was complicit in the debacle. After actually shooting well in the first quarter, the Nuggets went 1 of 16 from the field in the second — their lone field goal coming on a buzzer-beating layup by Ty Lawson. The Knicks outscored them by 31-8. The crowd seemed especially receptive to the Kidz Bop performers at halftime. It was a festive atmosphere for a change. Eleven games into the season, Fisher has already learned to have a selective memory. Before the game, he was asked to recall if he had ever endured a stretch this brutal as a player, and Fisher could not — at least not right away. Then he remembered his first season with Golden State, in 2004-5, when the Warriors started out 3-12. “I’m assuming at some point we may have lost six or seven in a row,” said Fisher, which was factually accurate (six). “I obviously chose to forget about that.” Sunday’s contest was a dreaded matinee, which had not been a recent forte of the Knicks. Things got so bad last season that Mike Woodson, then the team’s coach, tried to impose a curfew after a 41-point loss to the Boston Celtics. It did not do much good. Later in the season, the Knicks went out and lost by 31 to the San Antonio Spurs. So outside expectations were predictably (and suitably) low for their game against Nuggets. Sure enough, the Knicks seemed disinterested in playing much defense. The Nuggets feasted on open looks from the perimeter, shooting 70 percent in the first quarter. Arron Afflalo sank four 3-pointers. Yet the Knicks were able to match them on the other end. The game was tied, 31-31, at the end of the first, which was appropriate. Neither team deserved to have the lead. After the Knicks assembled their big second quarter, the Nuggets chipped away at the lead in the third. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Danilo Gallinari and Lawson cut the lead to 86-74 entering the fourth. The Nuggets later sliced the deficit to 9 early in the fourth, after Nate Robinson converted a 3-point play. But by the time Anthony banked in a 3-pointer, the Knicks’ lead was back to 17.