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Curry's 54 not enough as Knicks edge Warriors

Feb 28, 2013 - 6:18 AM New York, NY (Sports Network) - Stephen Curry put on quite a show just a few blocks away from Broadway, though the final ending wasn't exactly what the Golden State Warriors' star hoped for.

Curry racked up a career-high 54 points in a dazzling individual display, but the Warriors still wound up on the short end of a 109-105 decision against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks received a few tremendous performances of their own to prevail. Carmelo Anthony scored 35 points, J.R. Smith put up 26 off the bench, and Tyson Chandler pulled down a personal-best 28 rebounds while chipping in 16 points.

Curry nearly offset the absence of teammate David Lee, handed down a one-game suspension by the NBA for an on-court altercation with Indiana's Roy Hibbert in Tuesday's 108-97 loss to the Pacers, by hitting on an astounding 11-of-13 shots from 3-point range, one shy of a league single-game record for that category. He added seven assists and six rebounds on the evening.

"I knew I was knocking down a lot of shots, so I knew it was a good night," Curry said. "I was trying not to look at the scoreboard."

Carl Landry and Jarrett Jack had 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the Warriors, who had been on a three-game win streak prior to Tuesday's setback in Indianapolis.

Curry's final two points, a pair of free throws with 2:05 left to play, created a 105-105 tie, but the sharp-shooter's jumper on Golden State's next series was blocked by Raymond Felton and Chandler grabbed the rebound. The stop led to Smith hitting a short-range look that put the Knicks in front with 1:10 to go.

Jack then was called for a travel on the Warriors' ensuing trip down the court, and Anthony buried a turnaround jumper following the change of possession to put Golden State in a four-point hole it couldn't get out of.

"Guys played great down the stretch," Chandler said. "We just did an excellent job of defending."

Smith made his presence felt early on, netting seven points during a 16-4 run that staked the Knicks to a 25-11 lead late in the first quarter, and New York maintained a seven-point cushion until Curry led the Warriors on an 18-5 tear that put his team ahead.

The dangerous guard poured in 15 points on a 5-for-5 shooting display that included four makes from beyond the arc -- the last of which gave Golden State a 40-37 edge with 5:14 left before intermission.

Curry finished with 27 first-half points, but the Warriors still trailed 58-55 at the break in part due to Chandler's monster effort. The All-Star center racked up an impressive 17 rebounds along with 12 points over the first two quarters.

A tightly contested third period saw four ties and four lead changes. The Knicks went up by six after Smith followed an Anthony basket with a 3-pointer in the final minute of the frame, but Curry responded with a triple of his own to cut New York's lead to 84-81 going into the fourth quarter.

A Pablo Prigioni trey to start the final stanza restored a six-point differential in the Knicks' favor, but the Warriors countered with a 9-2 burst capped by Curry's driving layup to go up by a 90-89 score with 8:25 left.

Curry would account for 11 of Golden State's 15 points thereafter, and the game remained nip-and-tuck up until the end.

Game Notes

Curry shattered his previous career best of 42 points, set at Portland on Apr. 10, 2010, and became the first Warriors player to score 50 or more since Jamal Crawford had 50 at Charlotte on Dec. 20, 2008. His 11 made 3-pointers were two better than the previous franchise mark set by Dorell Wright at Minnesota on Nov. 27, 2010, and one behind Kobe Bryant and Donyell Marshall's league single-game mark of 12 ... The game marked the first time Warriors head coach Mark Jackson, a Brooklyn native who played seven of his 17 NBA seasons with the Knicks, was on the opposing sidelines at Madison Square Garden as a coach ... Both Curry and Klay Thompson were fined $35,000 by the league for escalating Tuesday's fracas in Indiana ... The Knicks announced Rasheed Wallace, out since mid-December with a foot injury, has a fractured left foot that will require surgery that will sideline him through the regular season ... Kenyon Martin, signed to a 10-day contract by the New York over the weekend, made his Knicks debut and went scoreless in five minutes.