One of the finest stretches of play that Carmelo Anthony[1] and Kristaps Porzingis have produced together this season crashed to a halt late in the first half on Tuesday night, when Anthony stepped on the foot of a referee and tumbled hazardously to the floor.

Anthony, who tried to return to the game in the third quarter but lasted only 19 seconds before sitting out for good, was found to have a sprained right ankle.

As unnerving as the sight of Anthony writhing on the ground was for the Knicks[2], they closed the night with plenty to be happy about: the manner in which Anthony and Porzingis combined to score 35 of the team's 57 points before Anthony's injury, the fact that X-rays on Anthony's ankle were negative, and the way the team responded in its star player's absence to defeat the Celtics[3], 120-114, before a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden. 

"Every guy that touched the floor helped us in some way, even if it was for two or three minutes," Coach Derek Fisher said.

The Knicks will wait until game time on Wednesday to determine whether Anthony can play against the Nets at Barclays Center. It was the same ankle that he sprained last month, forcing him to miss one game.

Otherwise, the Knicks had plenty to be optimistic about. They won for the fifth time in their last six games and improved their record to 20-20.

Anthony had 17 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists before leaving the game. Porzingis finished with 26 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. Together, they shot 17 of 28 from the field.

The Knicks were leading by 12 points when Anthony went down, and the Celtics, using a smaller lineup in the second half, charged back and took their first lead since the early moments of the game midway through the fourth.

But with Anthony injured and Porzingis in foul trouble, Arron Affalo became the focal point of the offense, finishing with 24 points, and the rookie point guard Jerian Grant (16 points, 8 assist, no turnovers) carried the load down the stretch. Grant, who has had inconsistent playing time all season, had 10 points and 6 assists in the fourth and made four free throws in the final 31.4 seconds to help the Knicks clinch the win.

"They gave me confidence," Grant said of Fisher and his teammates, "putting the ball in my hands, telling me to go make some plays."

Early in the game, Anthony and Porzingis were making all the plays, often for one another, as they continued to develop their partnership.

Porzingis scored 16 points in the first alone, shooting 6 of 8 from the field, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range. It was intoxicating stuff for fans, who were moved to emit a series of delighted guttural noises in lieu of specific words or chants.

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There was the rhythm of Porzingis's movements, the smoothness of his release. At one point in the opening period, he jogged across the halfcourt line, caught a casual toss from point guard Jose Calderon and, while the Celtics were still setting their feet on defense, flipped up a 3-pointer about one step inside the "S" of the Knicks' logo at midcourt. 

"I was telling him, 'A lot of time when I have the ball, the attention is on me,' " Anthony said. "I'm going to find you, just get to a spot."

In a span of five seconds in the second half, Porzingis blocked or altered shots from three Celtics players. But the Knicks played the final 2 minutes 44 seconds without him when he picked up his sixth foul.

Anthony looked sharp, too, creating for himself and for others. He set screens for Porzingis and found him for assists, but he also looked aggressive going to the rim. In the first quarter, Anthony beat Jae Crowder with a speedy left-handed drive and hopped up for a two-handed dunk.

"We're still trying to figure that out, that combo game, that 1-2 punch out there," he said of his work with Porzingis.

Anthony's injury occurred with about 1:20 left in the first half. As the Knicks turned back to play defense after a miss from Porzingis, Anthony took a spill near the scorers' table and rolled over onto his back as a trainer rushed over to attend to him. It was only after several seconds that he arose and limped to the locker room.

The fans let out a cheer when he emerged from the tunnel for the third quarter. But he lasted only a few seconds before retreating to the bench, shaking his head. He told a trainer, "I can't push off."

Anthony, who had knee surgery last year, had been speaking in recent days how strong his legs had been feeling, how in-sync his body was.

"I think he's healthy," Fisher said before the game. "I think he's enjoying that part of being out on the floor. He can do what he wants to do, and his body can respond."

REBOUNDS

Boston Celtics Coach Brad Stevens grew emotional before the game as he paid tribute to one of his former players, Andrew Smith, who died on Tuesday after a two-year battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Smith was 25. "When you coach somebody, you get a lot more out of coaching him than they do from you," said Stevens, who coached Smith at Butler. "I could go on and on, and it wouldn't do him justice. He was special. He was tough. He set a great example." Stevens missed Boston's game on Thursday against the Chicago Bulls to visit Smith at a hospital in Indianapolis, and he said he planned to go back in the next couple of days. "I was happy that I got a chance to say goodbye," Stevens said.