NEW YORK — Carmelo Anthony scored a season-high 45 points, Jason Kidd made the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 24 seconds left, and the New York Knicks rallied from an early 17-point hole to beat the Brooklyn Nets 100-97 on Tuesday night. Kidd finished with 18 points against his former team, who used to dominate the Knicks when he played in New Jersey. Now the series is tied at 1-1 since the Nets moved to Brooklyn, both games coming down to the tense final minutes. Andray Blatche scored 23 points in place of Brook Lopez, who missed his sixth straight game with a sprained right foot. Deron Williams added 18 points and 10 assists, and Reggie Evans grabbed 18 rebounds, but the Nets lost their fifth straight. Gerald Wallace scored 17 points, but both he and Williams missed potential tying 3-pointers on the last possession after Kidd broke a 97-all tie with his 3-pointer from the left side while being fouled by Jerry Stackhouse. Kidd missed the free throw in an otherwise terrific effort for the 39-year-old point guard. Cavaliers 100, Lakers 94: Kyrie Irving scored 28 points in his return after missing 11 games with a broken finger, helping Cleveland drop the Lakers to a new low in a tumultuous season. Irving added 11 assists in 39 minutes as the Cavs ended a five-game losing streak. Kobe Bryant scored 42 points and Dwight Howard had 19 points and 20 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to stop the Lakers from losing for the eighth time in 11 games and to a Cleveland team that came in with just four wins. C.J. Miles scored 28 in his first start this season for the Cavs. Los Angeles was without Pau Gasol, who missed his fifth straight game with knee tendinitis. Clippers 94, Bulls 89: Blake Griffin had 22 points and 10 rebounds to help the Clippers beat Chicago for their seventh straight victory — the team's longest winning streak in two decades. Marco Belinelli hit a 3-pointer with less than a minute left to cut Chicago's deficit to 89-87, but Chris Paul answered with a floater in the lane, then iced it with three free throws down the stretch as Los Angeles snapped the Bulls' season-high three-game winning streak. Paul finished with 18 points and four assists as the Clippers swept the season series for the first time since 2009-10. Carlos Boozer had 24 points and 13 rebounds for the Bulls, who had won five of six overall. Nuggets, Pistons 94: Ty Lawson had 26 points, seven assists and five rebounds, and Corey Brewer added 15 points to Denver over Detroit. Andre Iguodala had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Nuggets, who rallied from a slow start in which they trailed by as many as 17 in the first quarter. JaVale McGee also scored 12 for Denver. Brandon Knight had 20 points and five assists for the Pistons. Jason Maxiell added 18 points, six blocks and six rebounds, and Rodney Stuckey scored 17. Danilo Gallinari hit a 3-pointer with 1:48 left to give the Nuggets a 96-89 lead before Lawson's driving layup with 1:15 remaining pushed it to 98-89. Wizards 77, Hornets 70: Jordan Crawford scored 26 points to help Washington spoil the return of overall No. 1 pick Anthony Davis with a win over New Orleans. Bradley Beal added 15 points for the Wizards, who trailed by as many as 13 and never led until the fourth quarter. Washington won for the first time on the road after losing its first eight. Ryan Anderson led New Orleans with 17 points. Davis, who missed 11 games with a stress reaction in his left ankle, had 13 points and seven rebounds. The game befitted the team with the worst record in the Eastern Conference (Washington) and the team with the worst in the West (New Orleans) as both teams shot under 33 percent for the game. — AP
