'Melo scores 36, but Knicks continue slide

While it's March Madness in numerous cities around the country, it's "March Sadness" in New York City as the New York Knicks dropped their sixth straight, falling to the Charlotte Bobcats.

Despite new personnel, these struggles are nothing new in the month of March for New York.

The Knicks have posted losing records this month in each of the last seven seasons and have the lowest win percentage in the NBA during March since the 2004-05 season.

Carmelo Anthony set his Knicks career-high with 36 points, doing so on 25 field goal attempts, the most he has taken in a game since his first with the Knicks (also 25).

He did not receive much help from the rest of the Knicks’ perceived "Big Three" though, as Chauncey Billups and Amar'e Stoudemire combined for just 28 points on 29 shots including just six points on five field goal attempts in the fourth quarter.

Knicks, With and Without Chauncey Billups
Since Trade

	With	Without
W-L	3-10<	4-2
PPG	102.4	110.7
3-pt FG pct	35.2	51.4
APG	19.0	24.3
< 1-8 since Billups returned from injury

Billups continued to struggle from three-point range, making just 1-of-6 attempts. New York is just 1-8 since he returned from injury and 3-10 overall when the point guard plays since the trade.

The Knicks have won four of the six games he missed, and have averaged over eight more points per game without him, while also recording five more assists per game.

While the Knicks continue to slide, the Bobcats' victories on consecutive nights, coupled with two losses by the Indiana Pacers, and Charlotte finds themselves just one game behind Indiana for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Bobcats have 10 games left compared to just eight for the Pacers, but Indiana swept the season series between the teams meaning Charlotte would lose the tiebreaker if the two teams finish with the same record.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

•  The Chicago Bulls outscored the Milwaukee Bucks by 13 points in the fourth quarter of their win. On the year the Bulls have been dominant in the fourth, outscoring their opponents by 201 points. No other team has outscored its opponents by even 100 points in the final frame this season.

Rose

• Derrick Rose scored 30 points and recorded a career-high 17 assists in the victory. Rose is just the second Bulls player in the last 25 seasons to score at least 30 points and record at least 15 assists in a single game. The other was Michael Jordan, who last did it in 1989 when he had 33 points and 17 assists against the Trail Blazers.

• The Atlanta Hawks clinched a playoff berth for the fourth consecutive season with their victory over the New Jersey Nets. The streak of four straight playoff appearances is the longest for the franchise since making it in seven straight seasons from 1992-99.

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/26802/anthony-scores-36-but-knicks-continue-free-fall

Dwayne Wade Cleveland Cavaliers Elliott Sadler Masami Kuwashima Luis Scola Kurt Busch