The Knicks showed Monday night that they could win without two of their top players. What they do not want to find out is if they can make the playoffs similarly short-handed. Behind 28 points from Carmelo Anthony, his best output in two months, the Knicks put the defensive squeeze on the Milwaukee Bucks and beat them at Madison Square Garden, 89-80. But it was little more than a silver lining on a difficult day, with the team's path to the playoffs suddenly littered by an uncompromising injury report. Ninety minutes before the game, the Knicks announced that forward Amar'e Stoudemire had a bulging disk in his lower back. While surgery is not planned, Stoudemire headed to Florida for a second look and is out indefinitely. Point guard Jeremy Lin also missed the game, his first absence since the birth of Linsanity 26 games ago. Lin said his knee had been sore the previous two games, but thought he would play Monday after taking part in the team's shootaround earlier in the day. He and team trainers later opted for a cautionary approach. Pacers 105, Heat 90: Danny Granger scored 25 points Monday night to help the host Indiana Pacers beat Miami for their first victory against the Heat in four tries. The Pacers, who have won four of five over all, seemed to play with confidence throughout. Witness the end of the first half: after Indiana center Roy Hibbert dunked on LeBron James, Paul George made a halfcourt shot at the buzzer for a 49-46 lead. Jazz 105, Nets 84: Paul Millsap had 24 points and 13 rebounds as visiting Utah recovered in style from a four-overtime loss Sunday. The Jazz have won seven of eight and remain in contention for one of the last playoff spots in the Western Conference. Gerald Green led the Nets with 20 points, and Deron Williams added 17 points and 11 assists against his former teammates. Nuggets 108, Bulls 91: Ty Lawson tied a season high with 27 points and visiting Denver shot 50 percent. The Nuggets were playing their third game in four nights, all part of a seven-game road swing, but it was Chicago that looked out of sorts. It did not help that Derrick Rose sat out his seventh straight game with a groin injury. Rockets 113, Kings 106: Patrick Patterson scored a career-high 24 points and Earl Boykins, who was signed by Houston earlier in the day, made four free throws late in overtime for the host Rockets. Magic 117, Raptors 101: Ryan Anderson made a career-best eight 3-pointers for Orlando at Toronto. Anderson finished with 28 points, and the Magic, who entered the game leading the league in outside shooting, finished with 15 3-pointers on 34 attempts. Pistons 79, Wizards 77: Rodney Stuckey scored half of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, including a game-winning 20-foot jumper with two-tenths of a second left, as Detroit ended a five-game skid with a win at Washington. Celtics 102, Bobcats 95: Paul Pierce scored a season-high 36 points as Boston won at Charlotte and moved into a first-place tie with the Philadelphia 76ers in the Atlantic Division. Pierce is averaging 22.3 points this month. In another game it was LA Clippers 97, New Orleans 85.
