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New York • Carmelo Anthony let it fly from halfcourt, and when it went in, he had proof of what was already obvious.

"When I made the shot at the half, I told myself the zone was there," Anthony said.

Soon, he had passed Kevin Durant. Next was Bernard King, and finally Kobe Bryant.

Three records, all shot down in one scintillating performance.

Anthony scored a career-high 62 points to break the franchise and current Madison Square Garden marks, and the New York Knicks beat the Charlotte Bobcats 125-96 on Friday night to stop a five-game losing streak.

Anthony made 23 of 35 shots, one when he leapt from center court to beat the halftime buzzer, and even added 13 rebounds in the NBA's highest-scoring performance this season.

Anthony had 56 after three quarters, bettering Durant's previous season high of 54, and stayed in for the first few minutes of the fourth to break King's Knicks record of 60 set in 1984 and Bryant's arena record of 61 set five years ago.

"I made history tonight, with the performance, but just to be a part of that group of people, like I said, there's only a small group of people that knows what that zone feels like and tonight I was one of them," Anthony said.

It was easily the highlight of the season for Anthony, on pace to miss the playoffs for the first time in his career and facing frequent questions about his future with the team as he heads into free agency this summer.

That was all on hold for one night, the focus simply on Anthony's amazing scoring.

He easily passed his previous career best of 50 points and possibly could've even passed 70 or more had the game been close. Instead, he checked out for good after breaking the records when he banked in a short jumper with 7:24 to play.

"I've seen him score a lot of points, but that was some performance right there," said J.R. Smith, who was also a teammate of Anthony's in Denver. Knicks 125, Bobcats 96

Charlotte 21 25 20 30 — 96

New York 30 37 34 24 — 125

CHARLOTTE (96)

Kidd-Gilchrist 2-4 0-1 4, McRoberts 2-4 0-0 6, Jefferson 11-19 3-4 25, Sessions 3-8 6-6 12, Henderson 4-9 0-0 8, Zeller 2-5 1-1 5, Douglas-Roberts 5-7 0-0 14, Tolliver 1-5 0-0 3, Pargo 4-11 0-0 11, Biyombo 3-4 2-2 8.

Totals 37-76 12-14 96.

NEW YORK (125)

Anthony 23-35 10-10 62, Shumpert 2-6 0-0 4, Chandler 1-2 0-0 2, Prigioni 1-2 0-0 3, Felton 5-9 0-0 11, Smith 5-9 1-1 14, Aldrich 1-4 0-0 2, Hardaway Jr. 4-8 0-0 10, Tyler 4-8 0-0 8, Murry 3-4 0-0 6, Udrih 1-3 0-0 3.

Totals 50-90 11-11 125.

3-Point Goals—Charlotte 10-24 (Douglas-Roberts 4-5, Pargo 3-8, McRoberts 2-3, Tolliver 1-4, Jefferson 0-1, Sessions 0-1, Henderson 0-2), New York 14-27 (Anthony 6-11, Smith 3-4, Hardaway Jr. 2-6, Udrih 1-1, Prigioni 1-2, Felton 1-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Charlotte 36 (Jefferson 9), New York 45 (Anthony 13). Assists—Charlotte 23 (Pargo 8), New York 23 (Felton 5). Total Fouls—Charlotte 11, New York 19. Technicals—Charlotte Coach Clifford, Henderson, Jefferson, Charlotte defensive three second. A—19,812 (19,763).