DENVER -- Carmelo Anthonys bid for a triumphant return to Denver fell short. Anthony missed a contested, 14-foot jumper at the buzzer as the Nuggets hung on for a 97-95 victory over their former star player and his struggling New York Knicks on Friday night. "I didnt get it done, thats it," Anthony said. "My teammates did a great job of getting us in that position, putting us in that position, giving me the chance of tying the game or going for the win. I didnt come through. Ill take that." Ty Lawson scored 22 points for the Nuggets, who sent the Knicks to their eighth consecutive loss. Randy Foye added 17 points and provided the defence on Anthonys last shot, timing his jump so that the All-Star forward had to shoot over his outstretched hand. "At the end of the game, Im trying to win, just like him," Foye said. "I knew he wanted that. You could tell. Hes the All-Star. Hes a leading scorer. Hes supposed to take that shot. I just buckled down. I take pride in my defence." Anthony, who finished with 27 points, starred for the Nuggets for 7 1/2 seasons. He was back in Denver for the second time since he asked for and received a trade to New York in February 2011. Just as he was in his initial return to Denver last March, when a knee injury knocked him out of the game early, the former fan favourite was booed practically every time he touched the ball. The last few minutes were especially rough on Anthony, who also missed a jumper that could have tied it with under 4 minutes left and turned the ball over on a travelling call with just under 3 minutes to go. But Anthony said the reception he got from the crowd didnt affect him. "Hell no, that dont concern me," he said. "Im past those stages." Andrea Bargnani added 22 points for New York. J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert had 11 apiece. Denver power forward Kenneth Faried left midway through the third quarter to have his bruised right quadriceps treated. Anthony converted a three-point play that pulled the Knicks to 75-67 heading into the fourth. Tim Hardaway Jr. hit his second 3-pointer in the fourth, igniting a 6-0 burst that got the Knicks to 81-78 with 7:32 left. New York fought back to 85-83 on a pair of free throws, but Wilson Chandler, who came to Denver from the Knicks as part of the Anthony trade, drained a 3 to give the Nuggets a five-point lead. The Knicks cut it to 96-93 when Raymond Felton hit a 3 with 31 seconds left. A turnover by Chandler led to a driving layup by Shumpert to get the Knicks within a point. After Lawson made one of two free throws with 19 seconds left, the Knicks got the ball to Anthony, who backed in against Foye and pulled up for a turnaround jumper that Foye managed to get a hand on, leaving the shot well short. "Hes strong. Hes bulldog strong," Lawson said of Foye. "Hes definitely a good post player and we rely on him down the stretch. Ive seen Melo make a lot of tough shots and he played him perfectly, made him shoot over him and put a hand up and Melo didnt really expect it." Lawson had 14 points in the first half, helping the Nuggets take a 51-45 lead. The Nuggets led by as many as 13 points earlier, going in front 42-29 on a driving dunk by J.J. Hickson with 5:37 left in the second. New York closed the gap by putting together an 8-0 run, pulling within five points on Feltons floater in the lane with 3:01 to play in the period. NOTES: Lawson has scored 10 or more points in all 15 of his games. ... Anthony is the only player in the NBA who has led his team in scoring in every game this season. ... The Knicks skid is their longest since also losing eight in a row in February 2010. ... The Nuggets have gone 9-3 since an 0-3 start. Cheap NCAA Jerseys Authentic . -- Detroit shortstop Jose Iglesias says he has stress fractures in both legs and isnt sure when hell be able to play again, leaving the Tigers two weeks to fill his spot for opening day and perhaps a lot longer. Fake NCAA Jerseys . -- The Tampa Bay Lightning are disappointed, though not discouraged. https://www.chinajerseysncaa.us/. -- Terrelle Pryor took the opening snap of the game, put the ball in Darren McFaddens belly and saw LaMarr Woodley crash down. Wholesale NCAA Jerseys . Richard Jefferson scored 17 points and Diante Garrett had a career-high 15 points as the Jazz had seven players with 10 points or more in Utahs largest margin of victory this season. Cheap NCAA Jerseys . - No matter the lineup or location, the San Antonio Spurs are rolling through the NBA again this spring, just the way they have for most of the last two decades.PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Even though the Pittsburgh Pirates employ one of the largest analytics departments in baseball, they are not exactly sure how Jung Ho Kangs outstanding statistics in South Korea will translate to the major leagues.They are willing to find out.Pittsburgh and the 27-year-old infielder finalized an $11 million, four-year contract on a busy Friday for the Pirates. The deal includes a $5.5 million club option for 2019 with a $1 million buyout.Meanwhile, closer Mark Melancon was among nine of the Pirates 12 players who filed for arbitration earlier this week and agreed to one-year contracts. The 29-year-old will make $5.4 million, more than double the $2,595,000 he earned last season when he converted 33 of 37 save opportunities and had a 1.90 ERA in 72 games.Joining Melancon in agreeing to one-year deals were left-handed relievers Antonio Bastardo ($3.1 million) and Tony Watson ($1.75 million); right-handed reliever Jared Hughes ($1,075,000); catchers Chris Stewart ($1,225,000) and Francisco Cervelli ($987,500); third baseman Josh Harrison ($2.8 million); infielder Sean Rodriguez ($1.9 million); and outfielder Travis Snider ($2.1 million).The Pirates were unable to reach terms with right-hander Vance Worley, first baseman Pedro Alvarez and second baseman Neil Walker and the sides exchanged arbitration figures. If management sticks to its intended plan of refusing to negotiate now that figures have been filed, then the three players will end up in hearings in February.Kang is trying to become the first position player to make the jump from the Korean Baseball Organization to the major leagues.This is an unprecedented situation, so its difficult to truly project how he will perform, Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said. That is why we had multiple people watch him play multiple times. We feel good about bringing him into our organization and we feel that this is going to be a very good investment for our organization.Kang hit .356 with 40 home runs in 117 games last season for the Nexen Heroes, who play in Seoul. He had a .383 on-base percentage and a .503 slugging percentage.During his nine-year career in the KBO, Kang hit .298 batting with 139 homers in 902 games. He also played for South Korea in the World Baseball Classic in 2013.The Pirates will pay a $5,002,015 posting fee for Kang.Im very excited and humbled by this opportunity, he said in a statement released by the Pirates.Most of the ballparks in South Korea are smaller than in the major leagues. The Pirates, however, believe Kang will hit for power.He hit a lot of balls in Korea that would have been out of the ballparks in the major leagues, too, Huntington said. What we really like about him iss that he has a good overall approach to hitting.ddddddddddddKang was primarily a shortstop in Korea but will begin his career as a utility infielder, backing up Walker, Harrison and shortstop Jordy Mercer. Huntington dismissed the idea of having Kang start the season in the minor leagues in an effort to better adjust to the American style of play.The best way to transition him to the major leagues is by having play in the major leagues, Huntington said. Our challenge, as it would be with any role player, is giving him enough playing time to stay sharp.In arbitration, Walker is seeking $9 million while the Pirates filed at $8 million. The 29-year-old switch-hitter set a career-high 23 home runs last season and batted .271 while earning $5.25 million.Alvarez is seeking a raise to $6 million from $4.25 million while the Pirates filed at $5 million. After leading the NL with 36 home runs in 2013, he hit just 18 last season to go with a .231 batting average in 122 games.Worley is looking to boost his salary from $527,500 to $2.45 million while the Pirates countered with a figure of $2 million. The 27-year-old went 8-4 with a 2.85 ERA in 18 games, all but one a start.Harrison quintupled his salary of $523,000 last year, when he finished second in the NL batting race with a .315 average after beginning the season as the last man on the bench. He hit 13 home runs and stole 18 bases.Bastardo was acquired from Philadelphia during the winter meetings for minor league pitcher Joely Rodriguez. The 29-year-old gets a raise from $2.15 million after going 5-7 with a 3.94 ERA in 67 games.The 29-year-old Watson, along with Harrison, was selected to the All-Star game for the first time in his career last season when was paid $528,500 while leading the NL with 78 appearances. He was 10-2 with two saves and a 1.62 ERA.Hughes got a boost from $513,500. He pitched in 63 games last season, going 7-5 with a 1.96 ERA.Stewart made $1 million last year, when he hit a career-high .294 in 49 games. He is expected to split time with Cervelli, a 28-year-old acquired from the New York Yankees in November. He hit .301 with two homers in 49 games in an injury-filled season and made $700,000.Rodriguez, 29, was acquired from Tampa Bay on Dec. 1 for pitching prospect Buddy Borden. He had a $1,475,000 salary last season when he hit .211 with a career-high 12 home runs in 96 games.Snider, 26, is expected to compete with Gregory Polanco for the starting right fielders job in spring training after hitting .264 with 13 home runs in 140 games last season while making $1.2 million.The Pirates are 10-10 all-time in arbitration and won the last time they went to a hearing, beating Garrett Jones in 2012. ' ' '