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Hawks and Paul Millsap prevail, despite Carmelo Anthony's best effort

The New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks outdid Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

The two teams played a four-overtime epic on Sunday that lasted three hours, 39 minutes (two minutes longer than the Australian Open final), and the Hawks prevailed 142-139 in Atlanta.

Though the Hawks had played (and won) a four-overtime game as recently as 2012, it was only the second quadruple-overtime game in the Knicks' history. The last was on Jan. 23, 1951, a loss to the Rochester Royals. (The Knicks would also lose to the Royals in the 1951 NBA Finals.)

Carmelo Anthony’s big game not enough

Carmelo Anthony scored 45 points in 46 minutes. He made a game-tying layup with 2.6 seconds remaining in regulation and a game-tying pull-up jumper from 18 feet away with 6.9 seconds remaining in the first overtime.

The layup was unusual in that Anthony normally takes jump shots in those situations. It was the first time since the 2010-11 season that Anthony made a game-tying or go-ahead shot inside 10 feet in the final 10 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime.

It’s also the first time in his career that Anthony has made more than one game-tying or go-ahead shot in the final 10 seconds of regulation or overtime in the same game.

Anthony posted his first 40-point game since scoring 46 against the Utah Jazz on Nov. 14, 2014. In the span between his 40-point games, 41 players scored at least 40 points in a game. James Harden did it 30 times.

The Knicks have now lost the past four times that Anthony has scored at least 40 points in a game.

Second best allows the Hawks to prevail

The Hawks’ bounce-back win came after a 26-point home loss to the Washington Wizards.

Hawks forward Paul Millsap had 37 points and 19 rebounds, including the game-winning basket with 27 seconds left in the fourth overtime. The 37 points were the second most he has scored in a game, surpassed only by his 46 points against the Miami Heat on Nov. 19, 2010. His 19 rebounds were his second most in a game, surpassed by the 24 he had against the Golden State Warriors on April 23, 2010.

Hawks point guard Dennis Schroder had 23 points and a career-high 15 assists.

A good rivalry

Sunday's four-overtime thriller was the fourth of four regular-season games scheduled between the Hawks and Knicks this campaign. The Knicks won the first one, but the Hawks took the final three, all in dramatic fashion. Besides Sunday’s win, there were these two:

Dec. 28: The Hawks led by three points when Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis was fouled with 3.6 seconds left in overtime. He made only one of three free throws (missing the third on purpose), and the Hawks held on to win.

Jan. 16: Schroder hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 22.6 seconds left. The Knicks had three chances to win in the final seconds, but Anthony, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah came up empty.

Note: The original version of this story said that the game was one minute longer. This was changed to two minutes after further review.