Knicks Comeback Falls Short Against Nuggets

Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points and the Denver Nuggets clinched a playoff spot by holding on for a 111-104 victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday night after blowing most of a 27-point, second-quarter lead.
    
Denver's 49-26 record is its best 73-game mark since joining the NBA in 1976. The Nuggets clinched a playoff spot for the sixth straight season. Only Dallas, Detroit and San Antonio have also made the playoffs every year since 2003-04.
    
Denver has won nine of 10 and New York has lost nine of 10, so a mismatch was expected, and the Nuggets obliged by racing out to a 62-35 lead with five minutes left in the first half.
    
That's when they got sloppy, and the Knicks, who were led by Nate Robinson's 30 points, got hot.
    
The Knicks used a 26-3 spurt spanning halftime to pull to 65-61 and make a game of it.
    
New York pulled to 80-77 on Wilson Chandler's jumper with 1:19 left in the third quarter, but that was as close as the Knicks could get as the Nuggets scored the next 14 points.
    
The Knicks played without guard Larry Hughes (ankle), swingman Quentin Richardson (ankle) and center Eddy Curry (knee).
    
Since 1991-92, which is as far back as their records go, the Knicks' biggest comeback was a 26-pointer at Milwaukee on March 14, 2004, when they overcame a 65-39 deficit in a 103-100 win.