Wizards 111, Knicks 108
NEW YORK -- Guards Bradley Beal and John Wall made big shots down the stretch and the Washington Wizards spoiled the debut of New York Knicks interim coach Kurt Rambis with a 111-108 victory Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Beal scored seven of his 26 points during the final 12 minutes when the Wizards never allowed the Knicks to lead by more than one point. Wall scored 15 of his 28 points in the final quarter and also handed out 17 assists.
Beal and Wall shot a combined 18-of-38 from the field and were the latest guards to have big nights against the Knicks (23-32), who lost their sixth straight and 10th in 11 games.
Beal hit a 3-pointer for a 99-94 Washington lead with 3:58 left, and on the next possession Wall hit a fadeaway for a 101-94 lead with 3:20 left.
Hours after expressing his surprise at the firing of Derek Fisher and remaining supportive of team president Phil Jackson's plan, forward Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Rookie forward Kristaps Porzingis scored 14 of his 20 points in the third quarter when the Knicks came back from a 13-point halftime deficit to move into an 83-83 deadlock entering the fourth.
The Knicks took three one-point leads at 87-86, 89-88 and 92-91 but could never expand it. The Wizards roared back, taking a 106-98 lead with 1:51 remaining on a Wall 3-pointer but then staggered to the finish.
New York mounted one last charge, getting within 106-101 on a 3-pointer by Anthony with 67 seconds remaining. Guard Arron Afflalo appeared to get the deficit down to 106-103 with 44.3 seconds left, but following a review he was called for an offensive foul.
Following a 20-second timeout, Beal split a pair at the line with 39.1 seconds left. The Knicks called a 20-second timeout and Anthony drove in for an uncontested layup with 33.5 seconds left.
Anthony then stole the ball from Beal with 24.9 seconds left. Anthony never got a shot off as Beal stripped him of the ball and made a free throw for a 107-103 lead with 12.2 seconds remaining.
New York called its last timeout with 11.8 seconds left. After Anthony inbounded to Porzingis, guard Langston Galloway knocked down a long 3-pointer with 8.5 seconds to go, getting New York within 107-106.
After Washington used its final timeout, Wall knocked down two free throws with 6.6 seconds remaining, putting the Wizards up 109-106. Without a timeout, Porzingis inbounded to Anthony, who was fouled with 5.1 seconds left by Garrett Temple.
Anthony made both and with 4.3 ticks remaining, Wall knocked down two more free throws for the final margin. Guard Jose Calderon then raced up the court and Galloway's 3-point attempt at the buzzer was long.
Before the drawn-out final two minutes, Wall had 11 points as the Wizards sprinted to a 35-21 lead after the opening quarter and had a 63-50 edge at halftime.
NOTES: New Knicks coach Kurt Rambis attributed the recent slip in play to selfishness and said he told the team "they must find a way to get into the playoffs." Asked about Rambis' comments about the postseason, New York F Carmelo Anthony said his new coach was spot on: "That should be our goal as a team. It was our goal and it should be our goal now." ... Washington G Gary Neal (sore right leg) sat out and missed his ninth game of the season. ... Wizards F/C Nene returned after missing two games with an injured left calf. ... Tuesday marked the 14th game the Knicks have played following an in-season coaching change. Before Tuesday, the most recent one was a 121-79 win over Portland on March 14, 2012, when Mike Woodson took over for Mike D'Antoni.