Carmelo Anthony Scores 22 Points, Knicks Beat Nets 110-96

Carmelo Anthony scored 14 of his 22 points in the third quarter, Kristaps Porzingis added 21 and the Knicks beat the Nets 110-96 on Wednesday night.

Rookie center Willy Hernangomez had a season-best 14 points, Derrick Rose also scored 14 and the Knicks climbed out of a 14-point hole to take the first meeting of the season between the New York rivals.

Brook Lopez and Justin Hamilton each scored 21 points for the Nets, who wilted on the second night of back-to-back games after a strong first half. Normally a good fourth-quarter team, they were outscored 38-25 while struggling to run their offense without an experienced NBA point guard.

New York, which came in allowing 109.8 points per game to rank 26th in the league, had more problems on that end in the first half but dominated the second.

And the Knicks got strong performances off their bench, with Brandon Jennings posting 11 assists and Hernangomez shooting 6 for 7.

The Nets, who set season highs for points and shooting percentage (55.3 percent) in their 119-110 victory over Minnesota on Tuesday, stayed hot for the first half of Wednesday's game. They shot 55 percent, led by as many as 14 and brought a 55-50 lead into the break.

They led by nine midway through the third before Anthony drove the baseline and then turned to his jumper. He made five of them and then a pair of free throws, putting up 14 points in the final 5 minutes to give the Knicks a 72-71 lead.

Hernangomez provided a spark before Porzingis made a pair of 3-pointers and threw down a dunk while getting fouled as the lead grew to 92-78.

TIP-INS

Nets: Brooklyn opened a five-game trip by falling to 0-3 on the road. ... Sean Kilpatrick made his first career start in his 43rd game. He came in averaging 16.6 points, tops among reserves.

Knicks: New York improved to 93-91 against the Nets. Brooklyn had won six of eight meetings over the previous two seasons.

POINT GUARD PROBLEMS

Brooklyn rookie Isaiah Whitehead, who had been starting at point guard with Jeremy Lin sidelined by a strained left hamstring, was placed in the concussion protocol, a night after hitting his head on the court. He finished that game but had a headache and experienced symptoms Wednesday. He will be out until he is symptom free and has passed the NBA's protocols. The Nets also waived point guard Greivis Vasquez, who struggled to recover from ankle problems, and recalled Yogi Ferrell from their NBA Development League team to make his NBA debut.

HIT THE ROAD

The Nets only had to go about 5 miles to start this road trip, and they have an even shorter segment during it. They play a back-to-back in the same building, facing the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday and the Lakers the next night in Staples Center.

UP NEXT

Nets: Visit Phoenix on Saturday to start the Western Conference portion of their trip.

Knicks: Visit Boston on Friday to start a tough road back-to-back against the top teams in their division. They visit reigning Atlantic champion Toronto on Saturday.

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