Carmelo Anthony said he felt the twinge of pain in his groin in the fourth quarter after he stripped the ball from Atlanta's Josh Smith and saved it from going out of bounds. He knew he was in trouble, and so were the Knicks. Anthony had just completed a 3-point play with 8 minutes 56 minutes to play to bring the Knicks to within 80-78. With 8:40 left, he gathered up the loose ball after a steal, a defensive gem to go with his offensive gem of a night (36 points). But that was when he hurt himself, and he did not score another field goal as the Hawks pulled away for a 100-90 victory in Philips Arena. It was only the second loss in 10 games for the Knicks since Mike Woodson took over as their interim coach. Joe Johnson added 28 points for Atlanta, which improved to 31-22. The Knicks are 26-26, in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Point guard Jeremy Lin (left knee) did not play for the third straight game and forward Amar'e Stoudemire (back) might not be back for the rest of the regular season. Celtics 100, Timberwolves 79: The 35-year-old Kevin Garnett had 24 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists in a return to Target Center, and the Boston Celtics outmuscled Kevin Love and the Timberwolves, 100-79. Love had 22 points and 11 rebounds but succumbed to Garnett's physical defense. Paul Pierce added 21 points and Rajon Rondo had 17 assists for the Celtics, who have won four in a row and are alone in first place in the Atlantic Division for the first time all season. Heat 113, Raptors 101: Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh scored 30 points each and visiting Miami beat Toronto for its seventh straight win over the Raptors. LeBron James had 26 points and 9 assists, and Mario Chalmers added 14 points for the Heat. DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points and Andrea Bargnani had 27 for Toronto, which lost for the sixth time in eight games. Wizards 97, 76ers 76: Host Washington built a big lead and held on to it for a change, ending a five-game losing streak. Cartier Martin tied a career high with 20 points in his second game under a 10-day contract. Bucks 121, Cavaliers 84: Brandon Jennings scored 28 points as visiting Milwaukee routed Cleveland and closed to a game and a half behind the Knicks for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Mavericks 100, Magic 98: Dirk Nowitzki banked in a jumper with 5.9 seconds left and scored a game-high 28 points to lead Dallas to its sixth straight victory over the Magic in Orlando. Bulls 83, Pistons 71: Luol Deng scored 20 points, and Joakim Noah added 19 points and 12 rebounds for host Chicago as the Bulls improved their league-best record to 42-11 even though the star guard Derrick Rose and Richard Hamilton remained sidelined by injuries. Nuggets 99, Bobcats 88: Arron Afflalo scored 12 of his team-high 19 points in the second half and added 11 rebounds as visiting Denver held off Charlotte. Rockets 98, Gizzlies 89: Goran Dragic scored a season-high 25 points and Courtney Lee added 17 as the Rockets beat Memphis, which has not won in Houston since April 2006. Kings 104, Jazz 103: DeMarcus Cousins played with stitches under his left brow and fire in his eyes. And the Kings beat Jazz. Cousins led the Kings with 27 points, including the game-winning free throw.
