NBA: Bucks beat Knicks; Knicks lose last 5 out of 6 games. Melo says ‘It’ll just take time’

Carmelo Anthony tried to put an end Sunday to the latest MeloDrama surrounding the New York Knicks, saying his frustration boiled over Friday night in a loss at Detroit.

Anthony, who at one point refused to join the huddle during a timeout, said he did not take Amare Stoudemire’s pointed post game comments personally, and he said there was laughter in a team meeting Saturday as the Knicks broke down film of the 99-95 loss, which dropped them behind Philadelphia into seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

“No not at all, why would I do that?” Anthony said of taking offense at the team captain’s comments. “[Coach] D’Antoni got a hell of an offense, I can tell you that. Everybody knows that around this league, everybody on the team knows that.

“It’s a matter of me picking my spots in the offense and figuring them out in a timely fashion. What I told the guys is ‘Let’s be patient, man. This is not going to get together, this is not going to be 100 percent in two-and-a-half weeks. It’ll just take some time.’”

Anthony missed all five of his shots in the fourth quarter and then bolted for the team bus without speaking to reporters after the Knicks lost to the Pistons, dropping New York to 7-7 since acquiring him.

Afterward, Stoudemire had said there were some players on the team who still needed to buy into coach Mike D’Antoni’s system, and it seemed clear he was speaking of Anthony.

But D’Antoni said the air was cleared at the team’s film session Saturday as the Knicks prepared for Sunday afternoon’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks, which New York lost 100-95.

“I think everybody wants an ideal situation where it’s all campfires and singing and all that, but it’s just not going to be that way,” D’Antoni said. “We have a lot of high stakes right now, and as you see there’s people that want to getcha. Again, it’s nothing bad, that’s just the way it is.

“We’re on a big stage and we’re going through practice on an open court and sometimes it doesn’t get good. I guess the bottom line is I’m not worried about it. We’ve talked about it and we’ll get things right, and guys are still hanging in there and we’ll solve the problem. There are going to be frustrations that boil over some, but they know and we all know, and we’re all in the same boat, how to get the job done.”

Chris Sheridan covers the NBA for ESPN.com and ESPNNewYork.com.

Follow Chris Sheridan on Twitter: @csheridanespn

NBA: CELTICS OWNED THE BUCKS! 87-56

Ray Allen and the Boston Celtics take a lot of pride in their defense, so this one was a gem. For Milwaukee Bucks coach Scott Skiles, it was embarrassing.

Allen scored 17 points in just three quarters and the Celtics set a franchise record for fewest points allowed in the shot-clock era, routing the Bucks 87-56 on Sunday.

“I think playing defense perfectly is our goal,” Allen said. “That’s what we shoot for, but a team can still score while you’re doing that.”

Not this time.

It was the lowest score against the Celtics since they beat the Milwaukee Hawks 62-57 at Providence, R.I., on Feb. 27, 1955. The Bucks, who joined the NBA before the 1968-69 season, set a franchise record for fewest points.

“That’s about as humiliating a defeat as you’ll ever see,” Skiles said. “They got us on our heels and took our competitive fight away from us. We pretty much just gave into it.”

Milwaukee was coming off 102-74 home win over Philadelphia on Saturday. When the Bucks flew east to Boston, they lost an hour to the Eastern time zone and then another hour to daylight savings time. And when the 6 p.m. EDT start arrived on Sunday, they plodded their way to all of nine points in the first quarter.

“You could see they were tired,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “So, we took advantage and that was great, but a lot of it had to do with their schedule.”

The Celtics held the Bucks to just 38 points through three quarters — an NBA record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. They clinched the new franchise low when Milwaukee’s Keyon Dooling missed a pair of free throws with 22 seconds remaining.

Nenad Krstic had 11 points and 14 rebounds and Paul Pierce scored 14 for the Celtics, who rested their starters throughout the fourth quarter.

Earl Barron was the only player to score in double figures for the Bucks, finishing with 10 points. Andrew Bogut and Brandon Jennings led Milwaukee’s starters with eight points apiece. Guard John Salmons was shut out altogether in 21 minutes.

It was Milwaukee’s most dismal performance since an 88-58 loss to Seattle on Feb. 21, 2003 — the day after the Bucks traded Allen to the SuperSonics in a multiplayer deal for Gary Payton.

Eight years later, Allen had a light workout with 30 minutes for the Celtics, who also got Glen Davis back after missing four games with a strained tendon in his left knee. Davis finished with nine points and seven rebounds. Troy Murphy added 12 points and seven boards and Jeff Green scored 11 for Boston.

The Bucks, who had won three straight, barely avoided the NBA record for fewest points in a half. Two field goals by Bogut in the final minute of the second quarter pushed Milwaukee’s score from 18 to 22 — just three better than the league record for futility. It tied the Bucks’ franchise low and was the fewest scored in a half against the Celtics ever.

The Bucks had more turnovers (nine) than field goals (eight) in the half and were outrebounded by Boston 27-17 in the first two periods.

by STATS LLC and The Associated Press