[caption id="attachment_104898" align="alignleft" width="200"] Knicks' forward Carmelo Anthony shoots over Sacramento Kings' forward Rudy Gay during their NBA game at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento Friday. — Reuters [/caption] LOS ANGELES — Carmelo Anthony capped a tense week with a milestone night Friday, pouring in 33 points to lead the New York Knicks to a 103-100 NBA victory over the Kings in Sacramento. Anthony became the 29th player in league history to reach 23,000 points, taking his career total to 23,024. His confident performance in the first game of New York's five-game Western Conference road swing came after Anthony said he was "caught off guard" by critical comments from Knicks President Phil Jackson. Jackson told CBS Sports Network in an interview that aired Tuesday that Anthony's tendency to hold the ball too long slows the team's offense. "At the end of the day, we're playing good basketball," Anthony said before Friday's game. "That's the only thing that really matters at this point." Anthony certainly seemed untroubled by game time. He scored 23 points in the opening half — 15 in a first quarter in which he connected on six of eight attempts. DeMarcus Cousins scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Sacramento. Anthony drained two free throws with 14.8 seconds remaining to put New York up 103-100. He missed two from the foul line with 2.6 seconds left, but Cousins' desperation shot from the Kings' side of the court as the final buzzer sounded bounced off the rim. The Knicks emerged with their fifth victory in their last six games. Cavaliers 114, Heat 84: LeBron James scored 27 points against his former team to move into ninth place on the NBA's career scoring list in Cleveland's victory over Miami. James added eight rebounds and eight assists, and Kevin Love fought through back spasms to contribute 28 points and 15 rebounds. Kyrie Irving scored 23 points. Hornets 109, Magic 88: Charlotte is clicking on all cylinders as it heads out on a rugged five-game road trip. The Hornets rolled to their third straight win as they cruised to a victory over Orlando at the Spectrum Center. This was a dominant performance in which the Hornets led by as many as 29 points and were able to rest all their starters the entire fourth quarter. Pistons 117, Timberwolves 90: Andre Drummond had his second straight 20-20 game with 22 points and 22 rebounds, and six players scored in double-figures as Detroit recovered from its worst offensive night of the season to beat Minnesota. Jon Leuer scored 17 points off the bench for Detroit. Tobias Harris and Marcus Morris each scored 15 for the Pistons. Raptors 101, Celtics 94: Dwight Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, Toronto's dynamite backcourt, caught fire in the second half and led the Raptors from behind to a victory over Boston. Lowry scored a season-high 34 points, 21 in the second half, and DeRozan added 24, 16 after halftime. Hawks 114, Bucks 110: Denis Schroder and Paul Millsap combined for 29 second half points as Atlanta rallied from a 20-point halftime deficit to defeat Milwaukee at the Bradley Center. Schroder finished with a game-high 33 points while Millsap added 23. Tim Hardaway Jr. sank three 3-pointers to add 18 for the Hawks, who shot 47.6 percent and went 12-for-34 on 3-point attempts. Rockets 102, Thunder 99: James Harden scored 21 points to lead Houston to a victory over Oklahoma City. Houston won despite a seventh straight triple-double by Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook. However, this was the first one to come in a loss. Westbrook had 27 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds, and his triple-double streak matches Michael Jordan's seven-game run in the 1988-89 season. Mavericks 111, Pacers 103: An embarrassing home loss two nights earlier ramped up the urgency for struggling Dallas to show signs of life, and it answered that call with one of its most efficient performances of the season in a victory over Indiana. Suns 119, Lakers 115: Eric Bledsoe scored 30 points and handed out nine assists, sparking Phoenix to a victory over Los Angeles at Staples Center.
