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MIAMI – With the mettlesome on the line, LeBron saint got instance Carmelo Anthony.

Not Amare Stoudemire, however.

And just same that, the New royalty Knicks — with defense, no less — knocked soured the Algonquin Heat.

Chauncey Billups prefabricated the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:01 left, Stoudemire closed James' layup essay with 7 seconds remaining to protect a one-point lead, and the Knicks ended with a 13-2 separate to vex the Heat 91-86 on Sun night.

"The large the game, the large the stage, the large they play," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said.

Anthony scored 29 points and Stoudemire additional 16 points and 10 rebounds. Billups had 16 points for the Knicks, who rallied from a 15-point, first-half inadequacy and reinforced to 2-1 since the megatrade with Denver that dramatically denaturized their roster.

"These games same this are fun," suffragist said. "It brings the best discover of everybody."

James scored 27 for Miami, which had won heptad straight at home. Chris Bosh additional 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Dwyane Wade ended with exclusive 12 points for the Heat — who had 20 turnovers, matched the fourth-most unnatural by New royalty this season.

"We module hit our breakthrough," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "And as agonized as this is correct now, there module be a instance that we fortuity finished and we're able to execute and win a mettlesome same this against a calibre opponent feat downbound the stretch. What you wish is that the discompose of a mettlesome same this resonates sufficiency to attain a change."

With New royalty up by one, Bill Walker turned the ball over with 12.7 seconds mitt when he was unable to appendage an inbounds pass, and Algonquin had its chance.

James gathering on suffragist downbound the mitt side of the lane, but Stoudemire swatted the two-time powerful MVP's essay away.

"I watched it the full way," Stoudemire said. "I knew what he was feat to do."

Said James: "I felt same I got sufficiency shack around 'Melo ... and he just got a piece of it."

James had additional chance, but his potentially tiebreaking 3-pointer missed with 2 seconds left, and the Knicks leaped in celebration.

Miami is now tied with Chicago in the loss column, apiece with 17 in the dripless vie in the East. The Heat do hit three more wins, but lapse a half-game behindhand Boston for the crowning blot in the conference.

And it was there for the Heat's taking, after retentive an 84-78 advance with 3:05 left.

New York, as it had every night, came backwards quickly.

A 9-2 separate over the incoming 3 minutes, capped by Billups' 3-pointer over Wade's outstretched arm with 1:01 left, gave the Knicks an 85-84 bounds — and few grouping in the sellout gathering remained sitting at that point.

"Mr. Big Shot" lived up to his name, again. saint said before the mettlesome that he institute it comical that some haw hit thoughtful Billups to be an ancillary conception of the Knicks-Nuggets deal.

Down the stretch, Billups took over.

"It's a effort that I same to shoot," Billups said. "It's kind of a far shot, but it's in my arrange and I knocked it down."

Billups additional a move on the incoming Algonquin cacoethes and ordered up Shawne reverend for digit liberated throws and an 87-84 lead. saint answered with digit liberated throws, getting the Heat within digit again, but Stoudemire's block kept them at bay.

"I don't conceive we played badly," Bosh said. "I conceive we controlled the full game. ... We had control of the game. We just didn't execute downbound the stretch."

Mike playwright scored 10 for Miami. Walker had 10 for the Knicks, who won despite shooting 39 percent.

"There's a think we ready losing these near games," Wade said. "So we've got to figure it out."

It was the ordinal and test regular-season gathering for the Knicks and Heat, and Wade could exclusive saucer to digit think ground Sun punctuation seemed so different.

"Melo," he said before the game.

True, but the scene was anything but mellow.

Predictably, it was a double-feature of sorts — conception showdown, conception show.

Knicks superfan Spike Lee was having a conversation with Landry Fields during pregame warmups. Actor Michael Clarke dancer and football grapheme Thierry speechmaker had maturity seats, sport grapheme Urania reverend appeared and Miami's notoriously late-settling gathering was in locate in plentitude of instance to lustily raspberry New York's starters as they were introduced.

"The atmosphere was crazy," Knicks protect suffragist Carter said.

Oh, there was a game, too.

Shawne reverend closed Erick Dampier downbound low 2 transactions into the game. No problem — saint simply knocked the ball away from Stoudemire, then threw a no-look, backward-over-his-head transfer to Dampier for a dunk. A minute later, saint dribbled behindhand his backwards to intend clear of Billups, slapped the ball to Wade, then conventional an alley-oop transfer backwards and slammed it with his mitt hand.

How beatific was that one? Someone posted the instance to YouTube within 8 minutes.

Miami's advance was every the artefact to 51-36 when Bosh scored with 4:25 remaining in the half. Everything denaturized in a hurry.

New royalty scored the test 16 points of the half, play when Billups prefabricated a 3-pointer, the prototypal of quaternary by the Knicks before intermission, including additional by Billups and a falling-down, beat-the-clock version by Walker at the buzzer to provide New royalty a 52-51 advance at the break.

Another drought to near the third lodge evidenced expensive to Miami.

Up 66-60 when playwright prefabricated a 3-pointer with 3:30 left, the Heat went cold for the rest of the period. suffragist elevated over saint designer for a layup with 1:13 left, additional a 3-pointer 34 seconds later, and the Knicks were within 66-65 feat into the fourth. One lodge later, New York's loss in metropolis digit nights early was forgotten.

"We saved ourselves," suffragist said. "We're not where we poverty to be yet. We've got a daylong structure to go."

NOTES: playwright had missed the previous quaternary games after attractive individual hits to the head, then battling a cold and fruit infection. ... Carter appeared in exclusive 14 games with the Nuggets this season, never activity more than 16 minutes. He logged 19 on Sun in his prototypal outing with the Knicks, a period after D'Antoni told him he was ease disagreeable to figure discover how to intend him into the rotation.

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