This Time, Anthony and Knicks Are Able to Hold Off the Bobcats Boris Diaw was thriving, Iman Shumpert was aching and the symbolism alone was enough to fray every nerve of every fan at Madison Square Garden. They had seen this horror show before, too recently to be comfortable. It had been six days since the Charlotte Bobcats dealt the Knicks a humiliating home defeat, and the memories were as fresh as they were painful. The Bobcats" second visit provided a few anxious moments, but the Knicks were sturdier and sharper and escaped with a 91-87 victory, extending their winning streak to three games and pushing them to 5-4. Carmelo Anthony again carried the Knicks through the critical moments, scoring 8 of their final 9 points and holding off a late Bobcats charge. Anthony, perhaps still bothered by a sore back, was erratic from the field, going 6 for 28, but he finished with 22 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds and went 9 for 13 from the line. Three Knicks passed the 20-point mark. Amar'e Stoudemire had 25 points and 12 rebounds, although he also struggled with his shot (7 for 25). Tyson Chandler added 20 points and 13 rebounds. Shumpert dazzled in his first start at the Garden, with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. He again left early, however, because of leg cramps, a recurring problem over the last week. Kemba Walker, the rookie from Connecticut, led a second-half charge that reduced the Knicks" lead from 11 points to 3 by the early minutes of the fourth quarter. The Bobcats (2-7) tied the score at 82-82 on D. J. Augustin's 3-pointer with 2 minutes 55 seconds to play. Anthony picked up his fifth foul with 5:30 left, with the Knicks still clinging to a five-point lead. Given the tight score, Coach Mike D'Antoni elected to leave Anthony in the game. Anthony missed his next two shots, allowing the Bobcats to tie the game. But he converted two layups and went 1 for 2 from the foul line to stake the Knicks to an 87-84 lead with 35.3 seconds left. Augustin cut the deficit to one point with a fadeaway 3-pointer with 10 seconds left. Anthony then secured the win by hitting 3 of 4 foul shots. Charlotte was missing Corey Maggette, its third-leading scorer, who injured his hamstring here last week. But they still had Diaw, who looked just as comfortable Monday night as he did in last week's Bobcats victory. He opened the night with a 7-point first quarter and kept the Bobcats in the game, accumulating 17 points, 6 assists and 7 rebounds through three quarters. After trailing by 10 and leading by as many as 9, the Knicks took a 50-45 lead into halftime, behind Stoudemire (15 points) and Shumpert (12). For the Knicks, that defeat was mortifying on so many levels, but mostly because they gave up 118 points, and 27 to Diaw, who for all of his skills is not known as a scorer. At the time, D'Antoni brushed off the performance, crediting it to Diaw's skill. But the scoring line was an outlier, his highest output since December 2009 and just the fifth time he had reached 27 points in his career. To look at it another way: Charlotte played six games in the last two weeks. Diaw had 27 points combined in the other five games combined. "I think we've improved," D'Antoni said before tip-off. That much seemed true. The Knicks polished up their offense in a pair of road victories and tightened their defense in a rout of Detroit. Their ball movement was better and their rotation more settled, with Shumpert and Stoudemire back to full strength. Some kinks remain. The Bobcats raced to a 10-0 lead Monday, drawing an early wave of boos, jitters and déjà vu. But the Knicks steadied themselves and took control with a 21-6 run, getting an early jolt of offense from Shumpert, Stoudemire and Anthony, and some nice pyrotechnics. Shumpert threw an alley-oop dunk to Landry Fields. Stoudemire dunked on a lob from Anthony. Then Chandler and Shumpert connected for another as the Knicks rallied to take the lead. Tyson Chandler's former Dallas Mavericks teammates celebrated their championship at the White House on Monday morning. He admitted to a pang or two. "It was disappointing," said Chandler, who never received a serious offer from the Mavericks last month. I know my wife was really looking forward to going to the White House and meeting the president. And I was looking forward to seeing him again. Chandler met President Obama during the 2008 campaign. He was supposed to play in Obama's charity game in December before the lockout was settled. "He owes me a tour," Chandler said, chuckling. He owes me a one-on-one game. He owes me a lot right now. He owes me some more money back on my taxes. ... Jared Jeffries (calf) could return by the end of the week, possibly for Saturday's game in Oklahoma City. If not, he should be back for Monday's home game against Orlando.