NEW YORK // Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups celebrated their arrival in New York by helping the Knicks to a 114-108 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks at Madison Square Garden.
Anthony scored on a strong drive to the hoop that he finished with a slam dunk, and then hit a short jumper to give the Knicks some breathing room after Milwaukee pulled to 104-100 with a minute and half left in the game.
In their first game after coming to the Knicks in a nine-player deal with the Denver Nuggets, Anthony scored 27 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, while Billups had 21 points and dealt out eight assists.
Bucks guard John Salmons led Milwaukee with 27 points.
The Knicks improved to 29-26 with the victory in their first game following the All-Star break, while Milwaukee slipped to 22-35.
"The fans were great tonight," said 26-year-old Anthony, a native New Yorker, as the sold-out Garden crowd serenaded him with a chant of 'Melo, Melo."
"I love it. I'm home," Anthony said.
