Anthony scores 40 as Knicks win 10th straight

New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony, left, dribbles the ball against the defense of Atlanta Hawks’ Dahntay Jones in the second quarter of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, April 3, 2013, in Atlanta. AP/David Goldman

ATLANTA — Carmelo Anthony scored 40 points, Raymond Felton had three straight baskets in a key spurt, and the New York Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks 95-82 on Wednesday night for their 10th straight victory.

Anthony, coming off a 50-point effort against Miami on Tuesday, scored 24 points in the first half. He shot 17 of 27 from the field and was 5 for 6 from the free throw line.

Felton sparked a 12-2 run that turned a tie game into an 84-74 Knicks lead. He scored eight of his 12 points in the fourth quarter as the Knicks moved into sole possession of second place in the Eastern Conference.

Atlanta missed an opportunity to move into a tie for fourth in the East and wasted a 25-point effort by Kyle Korver, who came up two points short of his season high.

The Hawks got off to a 10-2 lead, as the Knicks made just one of their first eight shots from the floor. But the Knicks made nine of their next 14 shots and took a 23-18 lead at the end of the first quarter, with Anthony scoring 13.

The Knicks continued their hot shooting in the second quarter and four times had a seven-point lead, the last with 3:52 left when Anthony made a 20-foot jumper. The Hawks countered with seven straight points and tied the game at 38 on Jeff Teague’s two free throws with 2:41 left. But the Knicks outscored the Hawks 9-2 the rest of the half to take a 47-40 lead into the locker room.

The Hawks came out strong in the third quarter and took a 60-59 lead when Teague drove and scored with 4:10 left. There were five lead changes and two more ties before the quarter ended with the score tied at 68.

The fourth period belonged to the Knicks after they broke a 72-all tie on Chris Copeland’s basket, which kicked off a 19-5 run.

Korver moved into third place on the career list for consecutive games with a 3-point basket. He passed Reggie Miller with 10:54 left in the first quarter and has connected on one in 69 straight games. Korver is still a long away from catching Dana Barros (89 consecutive games), but is within distance of Dennis Scott (78) and Michael Adams (79).