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NEW YORK -- The streak is over. The New York Knicks got a combined 56 points from Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith to top the Denver Nuggets 109-93. The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Knicks, who improved to 3-8 on the season. New York also improved to 2-5 at home.   Stat of the Day No. 1: One. That’s how many field goals Denver scored in the second quarter. New York’s defense forced the Nuggets to miss 15 of 16 shots. Denver’s lone make was a buzzer-beating layup by Ty Lawson.
The Knicks outscored Denver 31-8 in the quarter. Stat of the Day No. 2: 10-for-14. That was Carmelo’s shot line on Sunday afternoon. In his most efficient performance of the season, Anthony finished with 28 points on 10-for-14 shooting and hit 2-of-3 from behind the arc. In his last six quarters, Anthony has hit 20 of 27 shots for 56 points over the last six quarters. It seems like he’s finding his comfort zone in the triangle. A more aggressive J.R.: Knicks coaches earlier this week implored Smith to be a bit more aggressive in the triangle. Clearly, he’s taken their advice. Smith had 28 points on 10-for-16 shooting. He entered play Sunday averaging 9.6 points per game. Question of the day: What impressed you most about Sunday’s win? You can follow Ian Begley on Twitter.
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