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Friday, Dec 7, 2012 4:15 AM UTC

Without Melo, Knicks top Heat 112-92

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Topics: From the Wires,

Without Melo, Knicks top Heat 112-92New York Knicks' J.R. Smith (8) battles Miami Heat's Udonis Haslem (40) for control of the loose ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Dec, 6, 2012, in Miami. ( AP Photo/Alan Diaz)(Credit: AP)

MIAMI (AP) — Raymond Felton scored a season-high 27 points, and the New York Knicks connected on 18 3-pointers to more than offset the absence of Carmelo Anthony while topping Miami for the second time this season, beating the Heat 112-92 on Thursday night.

Steve Novak scored 18 points, J.R. Smith added 13 and Tyson Chandler scored 13 for the Knicks, who won their fifth straight and moved 1½ games clear of Miami for the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks made eight 3-pointers in the third quarter alone, the most by any NBA team in any quarter so far this season.

Anthony sat out, one night after needing five stitches to close a cut on the middle finger of his left hand.

LeBron James nearly picked up his second straight triple-double — 31 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists — in Miami’s second straight loss. Dwyane Wade scored 13 points, Chris Bosh had 12 and Udonis Haslem added 10 for the Heat, who fell to 8-1 at home.

Rasheed Wallace scored 12 and Jason Kidd added 11 for the Knicks, who finished 18 for 44 from 3-point range.

It was tied at 53 at the half, and the third quarter changed everything for the Knicks. Kidd made a 3-pointer, Felton followed with consecutive 3s and New York was up by nine with 9:42 left in the period and the Heat seemed stunned.

New York was only getting started.

In all, it was an eight-3-pointers-in-eight-minutes barrage that decided this one, with five different players getting in on the act for the Knicks. Smith hit the last of them with 3:25 left in the third, and a pair of free throws by Chandler moments later gave New York — again, without its best player — an 18-point lead on the road against the reigning NBA champions.

There was one run late in the third, a 13-3 burst by Miami that got the Heat within eight in the final seconds of the quarter. It was the last — and really, the only — gasp for Miami, as the Knicks just kept firing away in the fourth.

Felton finished 10 for 20 from the floor, adding seven assists and four rebounds. He was 6 for 10 from beyond the arc, Novak was 4 for 9, while Smith and Kidd were each 3 for 8 from long range.

Miami had two field goals in the first seven minutes of the final quarter, and when New York decided to put it away, it was with 3-pointers, of course. Novak made one for a 100-84 lead, another to stretch the margin to 19 and then Chandler got all alone for a dunk to push the lead to 109-88 and send most of the building’s occupants to the exits.

Smith hit a 3-pointer with 3:04 left to play, gestured toward the Heat bench, and the benches were cleared moments later.

NOTES: Haslem started and made his first five shots, his first 10-point first half since March 2010. … Anthony warmed up before the game, but seemed to have trouble catching passes. … It was Miami’s first home loss since Game 5 of last season’s Eastern Conference finals. … The Knicks have outscored Miami by 20 points in each of their first two meetings this season.

More By Tim Reynolds.

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