BOSTON — The New York Knicks ended a pair of long losing streaks on Friday night, but had to hang on to do it.
Forwards Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire scored 22 and 20 points, respectively and the Knicks held off a late charge to subdue the Boston Celtics, 101-95.
The victory ended 10-game overall and 11-game road losing runs for the Knicks, who improved to 5-20 (2-11 on the road).
The Celtics (7-14) lost their third in a row after a three-game winning streak.
The Knicks led by 14 points with 2:57 left in the game but forward Jeff Green led a charge that got the Celtics as close as four with just 16.8 seconds left. Anthony, questionable coming in after missing the previous game with a knee injury, salted the game away with two free throws with 16.2 left.
Guard Tim Hardaway Jr. came off the bench and added 16 points and five rebounds and backup center Jason Smith scored all 12 of his points in the second half and also grabbed five rebounds.
Green finished with 28 points, while center Tyler Zeller had 19 for Boston. Guard Rajon Rondo scored just two points but dished out 10 assists and grabbed seven rebounds.
Both teams lost guards to injury in the first half, with New York’s Iman Shumpert going down with a dislocated left shoulder and Boston’s Marcus Smart leaving with a strained left Achilles tendon.
The Knicks were already without guard J.R. Smith, out with a heel injury. While the Celtics were missing guard Avery Bradley, out with flu-like symptoms.
Smart recently returned from missing 10 games with a sprained ankle.
The Knicks, with the help of a 9-0 run, jumped out quickly, taking an 18-8 lead 6:24 into the game. But the Celtics pulled even at 28-28 2:02 into the second quarter and grabbed a 31-30 lead.
The Knicks finished the first half on an 8-1 run to take a five-point lead into the break.
NOTES: Carmelo Anthony and fellow Knick Amar’e Stoudemire were teammates on the Eastern Conference team at the 2002 McDonald’s All-American high school game at TD Garden. … Anthony denied a report he will consider giving up his no-trade clause to get away from this miserable New York situation. “Come on, man,” he said Friday morning. “After all the work I did to get here and get back here? If I was to get up and want to leave now, that would just make me weak, make me have a weak mind.” Anthony signed a five-year, $124 million deal to stay in New York. Free agents can be traded starting Monday.
Wizards 104, Clippers 96
WASHINGTON — Guard Bradley Beal scored a season-high 29 points and John Wall’s defense stymied Chris Paul as the Washington Wizards snapped the Los Angeles Clippers’ nine-game winning streak with a 104-96 victory on Friday night.
The Wizards (16-6) never trailed, made 9 of 16 3-point attempts and led 57-42 at halftime and by as many as 18 points in the second half.
Washington has won seven of eight games overall and improved to 11-2 at home, the best start in franchise history.
Wall had 10 points and 11 assists, and center Marcin Gortat scored 18 points.
The matchup pitted two of the hottest teams in the league but also two of the top point guards. Paul had 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Clippers (16-6) yet labored offensively for much of the game.
Facing relentless defense from Wall, Paul committed a season-high six turnovers. He entered averaging a miniscule 1.7 per game.
Los Angeles had 14 assists and 18 turnovers.
Forward Blake Griffin scored 14 points and guard Jamal Crawford had 12 in the Clippers’ first loss since Nov. 23. Los Angeles went 6 of 20 from beyond the arc
The Clippers had won 11 of 12 over the Wizards, including a two-game sweep last season. Paul scored 38 points in a 113-97 victory at Washington last Dec. 14.
Wall has at least 11 assists in seven straight games.
Los Angeles put together several mini-rallies in the second half, only for the Wizards to push back and never let the lead dip below eight points.
Paul missed his first shots from the field and the clanking Clippers fell behind early. In the second quarter, Paul made his first three shots and Los Angeles pulled within 45-40, but the other starting point guard closed the half with a flourish.
In the final 73 seconds, Wall assisted on a Beal 3-pointer, sank one of his own, blocked 6-foot-9 Glen Davis from behind near the rim and forced Paul into a turnover en route to a 57-42 halftime lead.
The Wizards had only one victory against teams with a winning record entering the game.
Clippers center Spencer Hawes left in the first half with a bruised left knee and did not return.
Starting center DeAndre Jordan picked up his fourth foul with early in the third quarter. Washington took advantage by looking inside. Gortat made 8 of 10 shots from the field.
NOTES: The star point guards entered Friday’s matchup with nearly identical statistics. John Wall leads the Wizards with 18.0 points and 10.4 assists per game and Chris Paul averages 18.0 and 10.1. However, the Clippers star commits only 1.7 turnovers compared with 4.0 for Wall. … Coaches Doc Rivers (Clippers) and Randy Wittman (Wizards) were teammates with the Atlanta Hawks from 1983 to 1988. The teams essentially traded assistants this summer with Sam Cassell heading to Los Angeles and Howard Eisley joining Washington. … Los Angeles remains without forwards Chris Douglas-Roberts (strained right Achilles) and Reggie Bullock (sprained right ankle). … The Clippers wrap up their three-game road swing against Eastern Conference opponents on Saturday at the Milwaukee Bucks. … Washington hosts the Utah Jazz on Sunday.