Anthony powers Knicks past Pacers

NEW YORK (AFP) –

Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks knocks the ball away from David West of the Indiana Pacers during Game Two of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, 2013 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 7, 2013 in New York City. New York shut down Indiana over the final 15 minutes to post a 105-79 win.

Carmelo Anthony busted loose to score 32 points and New York shut down Indiana in the final 15 minutes to post a 105-79 win that evened their Eastern Conference playoff series at one game each.

Anthony, who came into game two shooting just 37 percent in the postseason, scored 22 points in the fourth quarter against the mistake-prone Pacers at Madison Square Garden.

“I just thought in that fourth quarter our pace offensively was like old times again,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said.

The Pacers shot just 25 percent in the fourth and were hampered by turnovers, committing a total of 21 that New York converted into 32 points.

The second round playoff series now switches to Indianapolis for Saturday’s game three at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The Knicks reversed a two point deficit by going on a dynamic 36-4 run that led to a 98-68 lead with 3:30 left to play.

During that 12-minute stretch, the Pacers failed to make a single field goal. They missed on 14 consecutive attempts from the floor until Orlando Johnson drained one from beyond the arc with just over three minutes left.

Iman Shumpert added 15 points on seven-of-11 shooting to help the Knicks rebound from a game one loss, 102-95. Raymond Felton also scored 14 points in the victory in front of a crowd of 19,033.

Paul George led Indiana with 20 points but had only five in the second half.

David West and George Hill finished with 13 and 12, respectively, in the loss.

A few Knicks players had said they felt the Pacers went after Anthony’s injured shoulder in game one, while the Knicks admitting they were outplayed.

Sore shoulder or not, Anthony made sure that didn’t happen again.

“Melo just caught fire,” the Pacers’ George said. “He found opportunities and found mismatches and he was just being aggressive.

“We still contested shots. I felt like we made it as difficult as we could, but that’s why he’s an elite player. He has the ability to make contested shots.”

Pacers coach Frank Vogel said: “I think he is great. He’s just a beast of an offensive player and a competitor on the defensive end. He made a lot of tough shots. We guarded him pretty well, but he was great tonight.”

New York led 72-66 entering the final quarter, then scored 20 unanswered points to put the game out of reach while the Pacers fell apart offensively.