BOSTON -- Carmelo Anthony scored 19 of his 34 points in the first half as the New York Knicks opened a 24-point lead and coasted to their fifth straight win, 116-92 over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night. Tim Hardaway Jr. added 22 points, J.R. Smith 13 and Cole Aldrich had 12 with 10 rebounds in his first career start for the Knicks, who are making a charge for the Eastern Conferences eighth and final playoff spot. The victory moved the Knicks into ninth place, a half-game ahead of Detroit, which lost in Toronto on Wednesday. They are three games behind eighth-place Atlanta. Jeff Green led Boston with 27 points. Kris Humphries and Jerryd Bayless each had 15 for the Celtics, who have lost nine of 12. The Celtics were without guard Rajon Rondo, who was rested on the second of consecutive night games in his comeback from a right knee injury that ended his season last year in January. The Knicks, who led by 20 at the half and had opened a double-digit lead early in the first quarter, saw their advantage sliced to 84-75 on Greens 3-pointer with 1:12 left in the third, but Hardaways free throw gave them a 10-point edge entering the final quarter. Pablo Prigioni then made a 3 in the opening minute of the fourth and Boston never closed it back into single digits the rest of the way. New York led 68-48 at halftime. The Knicks went 9 of 10 on 3-point attempts and shot 60.5 per cent overall (26 of 43) in the opening half. Boston was just 2 of 7 on 3s. New York never trailed and opened a double-digit lead just 4 1/2 minutes into the game behind three 3-point field goals by Anthony. The Knicks shot 63.6 per cent in the opening quarter and led 36-24 after one. They didnt let up in the second, keeping their lead in double digits the entire way to halftime. They pushed it to 57-37 on Hardaways fastbreak dunk midway into the quarter and opened their biggest lead of the half 68-44 on Hardaways fadaway jumper late in the quarter. NOTES: New York coach Mike Woodson talked about his teams struggles due to injuries this season before the game but said, "Im not one to complain. Im going to keep on pushing guys to try and get over the hump and see if we can get this eighth (playoff) spot." ... It was the fourth and final meeting of the season between the teams. They split the series. ... Knicks C Tyson Chandler missed his second straight game due to "person reasons." ... New Yorks F/C Amare Stoudemire was also rested, forcing Woodson to give Aldrich the start. ... The Knicks first-half point total was the most Bostons allowed at home since 2005. Josh Hart Jersey . The English Football Association had charged the German right back with violent conduct after retrospectively reviewing video evidence of an incident that was missed by match officials at Craven Cottage on Saturday. Darius Miller Jersey . Boston is making its first appearance in the ALCS since 2008. For Detroit, its a third straight trip to the ALCS and its fourth in eight years. https://www.pelicanslockerroom.com/Derri...Edition-Jersey/. A top pitching prospect, one who the ball club is pinning some of its future hopes, takes the spot of a veteran who once was viewed as a future ace but who, to this point, hasnt realized his potential and may never. Jaxson Hayes Jersey . However, Therrien added that Galchenyuks status for next Wednesdays game against the Detroit Red Wings is questionable. Galchenyuk has been out since Jan. 6 with a broken right hand. Nicolo Melli Pelicans Jersey . The hard-serving 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., became the first Canadian to be ranked in the Top 10 on the ATP World Tour thanks to his runner-up performance at Rogers Cup in Montreal.SOFIA, Bulgaria - Simona Halep, Samantha Stosur and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova were straight-sets winners at the season-ending WTA Tournament of Champions on Wednesday. Top-seeded Halep beat seventh-seeded Alize Cornet of France 6-4, 6-4, with a second consecutive round-robin win in the Serdika group to ease her way to the semifinals. The Romanians last match of the group stage will bbe against Ukraines Elina Svitolina, who replaced injured Maria Kirilenko.dddddddddddd Former U.S. Open champion Stosur had a 6-3, 6-3 victory over fifth-seeded Russian Elena Vesnina in the Sredets group. Vesnina took a surprise 3-0 lead in the second set before Stosur rallied take the match. In Wednesdays last match, Russias Pavlyuchenkova topped Svitolina 6-2, 6-4. ' ' '