Game Time Nation (206)

Carmelo Anthony called it a statement game, and the message should be clear for the Chicago Bulls….. If they do meet in the playoffs, the Bulls better finish off Anthony and the Knicks when they have the chance.

Anthony scored 43 points, his most since coming to New York last February, and made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 8.2 seconds left in overtime as the Knicks spoiled the return to the lineup for a rusty Derrick Rose and beat the Bulls 100-99 on Sunday.

Anthony tied it with a 3 late in regulation and scored the final five points of overtime in his signature performance since coming to New York last February. He only had the chance to pull it out because the Bulls missed four straight free throws in the final 34 seconds of regulation.

”This was a playoff game. We have a chance, we might play these guys in the playoffs if we keep doing what we’re doing and get that seed, so this was a big statement game for us and we willed this one tonight,” Anthony said.

It had the look and sound of a playoff game in the tense final minutes at a frenzied Madison Square Garden. The loudest roars went to Anthony, who screamed ”This is my house!” after the second 3-pointer in a place where he heard boos just last month…..He said Sunday’s big basket was one of the best of his career.

”This was one of the top,” he said. ”Overtime, Easter Sunday, everybody’s watching, everybody’s in the Garden, so this ranks as one of the top.”

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Rajon Rondo got his pregame orders from Doc Rivers. The Celtics coach wanted his point guard to concentrate on scoring. Rondo did that – and so much more.

He finished with 16 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds, and Boston handed Miami its biggest loss of the season, pulling away with a dominant third quarter for a 91-72 win over the Heat on Sunday.

Rondo had eight assists in that period when the Celtics outscored the Heat 31-12, turning a 49-44 halftime lead into an 80-56 advantage. They stayed ahead by at least 19 the rest of the way for their fifth straight win.

He also had 10 points in the first quarter. Not bad for a sometimes shaky shooter who hadn’t scored more than seven points in any of his previous five games.

”We told Rondo that we needed him to be a scorer. Not a playmaker, a scorer,” Rivers said. ”He set the tone at the beginning of the game by doing that and I thought that loosened it up for everybody.”

He reached the triple-double mark for the fifth time this season with 8 1/2 minutes to play. It was his 13th consecutive game with at least 10 assists and another outstanding performance in a marquee game on national television, a scenario in which he seems to thrive.

The New York Knicks hope to have Amare Stoudemire back before the end of the season after a second doctor said he won’t need surgery on the bulging disk in his back. The Knicks said Wednesday they expect Stoudemire to miss about two to four weeks while getting treatment. They had previously said he was out indefinitely after an MRI revealed the injury on Monday.

Point guard Jeremy Lin also will miss their game against Orlando on Wednesday because of a sore left knee, but Carmelo Anthony said he will play despite a strained right groin.

Stoudemire is returning from Miami, where he was given a second opinion on the injury. Both doctors agreed on non-surgical treatment and rehabilitation, which will include an epidural for pain relief.

That could allow Stoudemire to return before the regular season ends April 26. The Knicks hold a two-game lead over Milwaukee for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.