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Boston • Twelve years without advancing in the playoffs. Two failed attempts to close out the Boston Celtics. Nineteen consecutive missed 3-pointers.

Carmelo Anthony brought all the slumps to a stop.

Anthony made a pullup jumper and then sank his first 3-pointer in 20 tries to help the New York Knicks turn back Boston's comeback attempt on Friday night, beating the Celtics 88-80 in Game 6 to win a playoff series for the first time since 2000.

"You should never play with any doubt out there on the basketball court," Anthony said. "I can't step onto the court thinking of failure. When you start second-guessing everything, when you start playing with doubt ... I can't afford to play under those circumstances."

Anthony scored 21 points and the Knicks held on after blowing most of a 26-point lead to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Indiana Pacers.

Game 1 is Sunday in New York.

Iman Shumpert scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half, when the Celtics scored 20 straight points and cut a 75-49 deficit to four points. But Anthony made a 13-footer to give New York an 81-75 lead and followed with a 3-pointer — his first since Game 3.

J.R. Smith converted a three-point play to restore the double-digit lead the Knicks had nursed most of the game.

"There's definitely a moment in that run that I was thinking, 'What are we doing, fellas?' " said Knicks center Tyson Chandler, who had nine points and 12 rebounds.

"It's such a great learning experience when you get a win. It's tough when you get a loss. We've got to grow from it. I'm glad it happened. I'm glad it happened in the first round."

Jeff Green scored 21 points for the Celtics, who had rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the series and had a chance, playing at home, to force a decisive seventh game.

No NBA team has advanced in the playoffs after losing the first three games.

Paul Pierce scored 14 points on 4-for-18 shooting, making one of nine 3-point attempts. Anthony also struggled from inside and outside the arc, going 7 for 23 from the floor and missing his first four 3-point attempts — that was 19 in a row in the series — before sinking the key basket with 1:43 to go.

"For him to miss all the 3s that he missed — he hit the biggest one of the series and that's what counts," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "That's what I look at. When there are close games, I like to see who's going to step up and make plays, and he made the biggest play of the night." —

NBA playoffs

O Friday

• New York 88, Boston 80

Knicks win series 4-2

• Indiana 81, Atlanta 73

Pacers win series 4-2

• Oklahoma City 103, Houston 94

Thunder win series 4-2

• Memphis 118, L.A. Clippers 105

Grizzlies win series 4-2

Saturday

• Chicago at Brooklyn,6 p.m., TNT

Series tied 3-3 —

Knicks 88, Celtics 80

FG FT Reb

N.Y. Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Anthony 39:55 7-23 6-6 1-7 5 3 21

Shumprt 37:47 6-9 2-2 3-6 1 3 17

Chandler 33:25 4-8 1-2 9-12 0 4 9

Prigioni 23:25 5-9 0-0 0-5 3 1 14

Felton 39:43 5-14 1-2 0-1 7 4 11

Smith 30:56 5-13 2-2 1-7 1 4 13

Martin 17:10 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 2 3

Kidd 15:35 0-1 0-0 1-3 1 1 0

Camby 2:04 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 0

Totals 240:00 33-79 13-16 15-42 18 23 88

Percentages: FG .418, FT .813. 3-Point Goals: 9-21, .429 (Prigioni 4-6, Shumpert 3-3, Smith 1-3, Anthony 1-6, Kidd 0-1, Felton 0-2). Team Rebounds: 5. Team Turnovers: 17 (23 PTS). Blocked Shots: 8 (Chandler 2, Martin 2, Anthony, Felton, Kidd, Shumpert). Turnovers: 16 (Anthony 3, Felton 3, Kidd 3, Smith 3, Prigioni 2, Camby, Chandler). Steals: 10 (Anthony 2, Felton 2, Shumpert 2, Chandler, Kidd, Martin, Smith). Technical Fouls: Defensive three second, 1:40 second Felton, 4:17 third.

FG FT Reb

Boston Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Green 42:51 4-12 11-14 0-5 1 6 21

Bass 42:17 1-6 4-6 0-4 1 2 6

Garnett 41:16 7-10 1-2 1-10 3 3 15

Bradley 27:05 4-6 2-2 1-2 1 3 10

Pierce 43:26 4-18 5-5 2-7 5 2 14

Terry 24:12 4-6 3-4 0-4 0 1 14

Williams 12:07 0-2 0-0 1-3 1 1 0

Lee 3:49 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 2 0

Crawford 2:58 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 240:00 24-63 26-33 5-35 13 20 80

Percentages: FG .381, FT .788. 3-Point Goals: 6-22, .273 (Terry 3-5, Green 2-5, Pierce 1-9, Lee 0-1, Crawford 0-2). Team Rebounds: 13. Team Turnovers: 20 (17 PTS). Blocked Shots: 1 (Pierce). Turnovers: 19 (Garnett 5, Green 5, Pierce 5, Bass, Bradley, Terry, Williams). Steals: 9 (Bradley 3, Garnett 2, Pierce 2, Green, Lee). Technical Fouls: None.

New York 24 15 28 21 — 88

Boston 10 17 20 33 — 80

Attendance • 18,624. Time • 2:38.

Officials • Ken Mauer, Ed Malloy, Bennett Salvatore.