The Denver Nuggets (21 - 31) defeated the New York Knicks (23 - 31) 101 - 96 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Carmelo Anthony (knee) returned to the starting lineup after missing Friday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies with knee soreness, but it was not enough to give the Knicks a needed spark, as they now own a five game losing streak. Anthony finished with 21 points, six rebounds and seven assists on 7 - of - 19 shooting in just under 35 minutes, but it was not the scoring output they needed to break New York out of a slump. Kristaps Porzingis struggled early, only completing two of his first nine attempts from the floor, and was a major part of Denver storming out to an eleven point lead at the end of the first quarter. Porzingis did finish strong on the shooting end to salvage what was close to his worst shooting performance of the season, as the lanky rookie scored 21 points on 10 - of - 23 shooting, to go along with 13 rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Langston Galloway went back to his bench role as Derek Fisher did not go with a three guard lineup with Anthony returning to the small forward slot, but Galloway still saw 20 minutes of game time and finished with six points, as both buckets came from behind the arc. The Knicks will look to end their skid when they host the Washington Wizards (22 - 27) on Tuesday. The Nuggets did not have a player score more than 20 points in the game, but their unselfish style of play lent way to an early first half lead and strong fourth quarter finish. Denver’s only bad quarter came in the third quarter, where some tough shots just did not fall. Danilo Gallinari and Will Barton led the Nuggets with 19 points each, but rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay has been playing very well since returning from injury and it is beginning to have a great impact on the team. Mudiay is coming off a 22 point performance against the Bulls on Friday, and added 19 points on Friday, to go along with four rebounds and nine assists. The young Nuggets squad started another rookie alongside Mudiay, center Nikola Jokic, who scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds in 18 minutes. Denver was able to coast to a win in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, doing most of their damage from the free throw line to consistently keep the Knicks out of reach. The Nuggets will play a back - to - back and hop from Manhattan to Brooklyn to take on the Brooklyn Nets (13 - 39) on Monday.
["TeamStat(G,'Knicks') has 31 Losses ,has 96 Total points ,has 20 Points in 1st quarter ,has 23 Wins ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Nuggets') has 31 Losses ,has 101 Total points ,has 21 Points in 1st quarter ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Danilo Gallinari') has 19 Assists ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Nikola Jokic') has 13 Assists ,has 6 Blocks ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Emmanuel Mudiay') has 9 Assists ,has 4 Blocks ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Will Barton') has 19 Assists ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Carmelo Anthony') has 7 Assists ,has 5 Blocks ,has 3 Defensive rebounds ,has 19 3-pointers attempted ,has 7 Field goals attempted ,has 35 Field goals made ,has 21 Minutes played ,has 6 Offensive rebounds ,has 3 Personal fouls ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Kristaps Porzingis') has 2 Assists ,has 2 Blocks ,has 3 Defensive rebounds ,has 23 3-pointers attempted ,has 10 Field goals attempted ,has 3 Field goals made ,has 2 Minutes played ,has 21 Offensive rebounds ,has 13 Personal fouls ,has 2 Points ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Langston Galloway') has 6 Assists ,has 3 Blocks ."]