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BOSTON — Carmelo Anthony took on the entire Celtics franchise last night and nearly beat it by himself in one of the great individual Knicks playoff performances.
With Chauncey Billups out with a left knee strain and Amar’e Stoudemire leaving the game late in the first half with back spasms, Anthony did everything but part the Red Sea to try to tie this playoff series.
But there was no miracle in the end. Trailing by one in the frantic final seconds, Anthony, after a double-team came, passed up on a final shot and passed inside to Jared Jeffries. With Kevin Garnett closing hard on him, Jeffries, the Knicks’ offensively challenged big man, committed a turnover, his nervous pass to Billy Walker knocked away.
Garnett fell on the ball with 4.1 seconds left, called timeout and the Celtics escaped Game 2 with 96-93 victory in a TD Garden playoff classic.
“We were out there fighting man,” Anthony said. “My teammates stuck with me.”
Anthony, forced to play the entire second half after Stoudemire went down, exploded for 42 points, tying his career playoff high, and collected 17 rebounds and had six assists.
“I probably have never been more proud of a team and how they battled the circumstances, how tough they played,” said D’Antoni, whose Knicks lost the first two games by a combined five points. “We’re still confident.”
But both Billups’ and Stoudemire’s status for Game 3 Friday at the Garden is unknown.
Stoudemire tweaked his back during warm-ups, playing around on a dunk, tapping the glass. “I could hardly move, I was trying to play through it,” Stoudemire said.
Anthony, pounded for his awful Knicks playoff debut and criticized for forcing a final shot Sunday, had no qualms about his last-second decision last night.
“I knew they were going to double team without a doubt,” Anthony said, referring to Paul Pierce and Glen Davis. “The last two, three minutes they were double teaming. The right play was to go to Jared. I thought he was going to lay it up. He thought he had the pass. I made the right play. I can live with that.”
Jeffries, who had given the Knicks the lead with 19.3 seconds left on a driving layup, finished with 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting. He took the blame.
“Looking at the tape, I should’ve shot the ball,” Jeffries said.
D’Antoni supported Melo’s decision, saying it was talked about in the huddle. Between games, the coaching staff actually emphasized getting Jeffries more in the offense, realizing the Celtics were barely guarding him.
“I’m sure [Anthony] was tired, but he didn’t show it,” D’Antoni said. “I’m sure we’ve all seen him play at a level that’s ridiculous and that was tonight. What he did and how he did it, he’s a special player.”
On what turned into the game-winner, Garnett backed down Jeffries and hit a turnaround in the lane for a 94-93 lead with 13.3 seconds left.
Garnett hit the big shot, but the Celtics had point guard Rajon Rondo to thank for keeping them in the game, especially early. Toney Douglas, filling in for Billups, couldn’t contain Rondo, who scored 14 of his playoff career-high 30 in the first quarter.
The Big Apple 3 came to Boston full of bravado. By the end of their two-game stay, the Knicks had been reduced to the Big 1 — Anthony, who played his heart out with a bunch of guys in the second half who may not be in most playoff teams’ rotations.
There were 22 lead changes during this thriller. During a stretch of the third quarter, Anthony scored 18 of the Knicks’ 20 points and 13 straight. He was 14-of-30 from the field — 4-of-8 from the 3-point line — 10-of-11 from the free-throw line.
During one timeout, Garnett lobbied to guard Anthony instead of Pierce, but was turned down.
“He can uplift his team even with the circumstances of Amar’e and Chauncey,” Pierce said. “That’s why you pay him the big bucks.”
Anthony soared over the 40-point mark, sinking an impossible 3-pointer from the right wing in the last ticks of the shot clock after getting bumped by Pierce. It put the Knicks up 91-88 with 2:35 left, but he didn’t score again.
Afterward, Anthony had treatment on his right hand.
“When I heard Stoudemire was out I turned to [assistant] Lawrence Frank and said, ‘Oh jeez, they’ve got us right where they want us,’ ” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “They played free and we were lucky to win.”
The supporting cast down the stretch with Anthony included Jeffries, Roger Mason, Toney Douglas and Bill Walker, who finished 0-for-11 with a key 3-point miss with 1:01 left.
“For the most part, we are playing our [butt] off, excuse my language,” Anthony said.