Knicks 108, Magic 86
KNICKS 108, MAGIC 86: Carmelo Anthony played through a groin injury and scored 25 points as New York routed visiting Orlando.
Rookie Iman Shumpert scored a season-high 25 points and Steve Novak added 16 as the Knicks won their third straight game despite being without forward Amar’e Stoudemire (back) and guard Jeremy Lin (knee).
Jameer Nelson scored 17 points and J.J. Redick added 15 for the Magic, who had a three-game winning streak halted.
New York improved to 8-1 since Mike Woodson became coach and increased its lead to 2 1/2 games over the Milwaukee Bucks for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Knicks dominated the middle two quarters and outscored Orlando 48-11 during a 13 1/2-minute stretch.
The Magic trailed 40-38 after Dwight Howard’s basket with 4:39 to play in the second quarter before the Knicks closed the half with a 17-3 run to take a 57-41 halftime lead.
The onslaught picked up in the third quarter as New York rolled off 21 consecutive points to take an 88-49 lead with under three minutes to play. The Knicks made five 3-pointers in the quarter.
Anthony injured his groin during Monday’s victory over the Milwaukee Bucks but hit nine of 15 shots in 26-plus minutes against Orlando.
The Knicks made 12 3-pointers with Novak and Shumpert each making four.
Howard scored just 12 points for his second straight poor outing against the Knicks. He had just eight points in the previous meeting.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Knicks announced Wednesday that Stoudemire doesn’t need back surgery and will miss between two to four weeks. … Howard had more turnovers (six) than rebounds (five). … Shumpert has scored 20 or more points three times this season. … Orlando’s Ryan Anderson had just three points after scoring 28 and making eight 3-pointers against the Toronto Raptors on Monday.