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Knicks' streak reaches eight with win over Nuggets

Dec 12, 2010 - 11:30 PM New York, NY (Sports Network) - Wilson Chandler hit a go-ahead three-pointer late in the fourth quarter on his way to scoring 27 points, as the New York Knicks won their eighth straight game after defeating the Denver Nuggets, 129-125, at Madison Square Garden.

Amare Stoudemire finished with 30 points and eight rebounds, while Raymond Felton posted a double-double with 19 points and 17 assists for the Knicks, who have won eight in a row for the first time since December 27, 1994 to January 13, 1995.

"Wilson was terrific," Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Wilson, Landry (Fields), Gallo (Danilo Gallinari), Raymond, kept us in there until Amare started heating up. A great game. Denver played well. That was a great game. It was fun."

Stoudemire became the first player in franchise history to post 30 or more points in eight straight games, passing Willie Naulls' mark of seven consecutive games with 30-plus points set back in 1962.

Carmelo Anthony returned to the lineup after sitting out the last two games with a right knee injury and ended with a game-high 31 points to go with 13 rebounds for Denver, which was unable to build off Friday's 123-116 decision at Toronto, a victory that gave head coach George Karl his 1,000th career win. Nene added 26 points in defeat.

"He's on a roll. His jump shot is falling right now, so he has a nice rhythm going right now," Anthony said about Stoudemire's play.

With the Knicks ahead 120-115 with just under two minutes remaining, Ty Lawson's driving layup and Chauncey Billups' three tied things with 1:18 to play.

After an exchange of baskets, Chandler drilled a three from the left side to put New York back in front with 30.6 seconds on the clock.

Following a Denver timeout, Anthony committed an offensive foul on his squad's next trip and Felton made both from the stripe for a five-point lead with 15.6 seconds left.

Anthony was fouled from behind the arc on the ensuing possession and drained all three from the line to get the Nuggets within 127-125. Felton again was hacked and converted both free throws with 6.4 seconds to play to put the Knicks up by four and they held on in the remaining time.

Chandler and Landry Fields paced the Knicks with 12 and 11 points, respectively, in the opening quarter to give the home team a 35-24 lead after 12 minutes. New York made 6-of-9 from three-point range in the period.

The Nuggets used an 11-2 run to cut a 12-point deficit down to three at 46-43 with 7:09 left in the half and Denver would go ahead for the first time at 56-55 with 3:27 remaining on Anthony's pullup jumper.

Both sides took turns exchanging the lead for the rest of the quarter and the Knicks were up 66-65 at the break.

It was an 85-83 game in favor of New York with 4:07 remaining in the third, before Toney Douglas hit a three-pointer to start a 10-2 run that build the Knicks lead up to double-digits with 1:36 left. New York held a 97-89 edge after three.

Game Notes

Despite the loss, Denver has won nine of the past 13 meetings between the teams...New York, which shot 52.3 percent from the floor and made 13 three- pointers, improved to 6-5 at home this season....The Nuggets shot 50.6 percent from the floor and dropped to 4-8 on the road.