Melo's swished heave capped a 37-point first half against the Charlotte Bobcats at Madison Square Garden. With 25 more points in the second half, Melo broke Bernard King's single-game franchise record and Kobe Bryant's arena record. The historic hoop came with 7:23 remaining in the fourth quarter, a bank shot from the right block.

King scored 60 points vs. the New Jersey Nets on Dec. 25, 1984. Bryant scored 61 at MSG on Feb. 2, 2009.

In all, Anthony was 23-for-35 from the floor (efficiency!), including 6-of-11 from 3-point range, and 10-for-10 from the line in 38 1/2 minutes.

"It's an unbelievable feeling," Anthony said in an interview on MSG Network immediately after the game. "It's just a zone that you get into sometimes. Only certain people know what that zone feels like."

Anthony said he was feeling it from the jump.

"I came into this game locked in," Anthony said. "I didn't know I was going to have that type of performance. ... It's a special moment. I know Bernard King is somewhere smiling at me. ... I was just taking it one possession at a time. ... My teammates found me. I've got to thank them."


COUSINS NOT FAN OF CLIPPERS, PAUL


DeMarcus Cousins has had his share of run-ins with coaches and teammates, so there is something refreshing about the notion of him focusing his orneriness on opponents instead. That’s what he did this week in an in-depth profile by Grantland writer Jonathan Abrams, taking aim at a growing rivalry with the Clippers in general, and Chris Paul in particular.

“It’s just, some players I don’t respect,” Cousins said. “Just their playing style of basketball. I don’t respect it. I feel like it’s basically cheating and I don’t respect a cheater. If that’s your tactic to winning, I don’t respect you.”

Cousins has been outstanding against the Clippers this season, averaging 24.0 points, 12.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists in three games.

Back on November 23, when the Clippers topped the Kings, 103-102 in Los Angeles after Sacramento had come back from a 20-point deficit, Cousins took point guard Isaiah Thomas by the jersey and pulled him away from Paul, who had extended his hand. Thomas said after the game that he wanted to shake hands with Clipper guard Jamal Crawford, who is also from the Seattle area.

“That’s just DeMarcus,” Thomas told reporters. “He gets upset. He doesn’t like anybody on the other team.”

Cousins has amassed 11 technical fouls this season, most in the NBA. Any player who reaches 16 technical fouls receives a one-game suspension.


DURANT SITS VS. CELTICS


Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant will sit out his team's game  Friday in Boston — and perhaps more games after that — with a sore right shoulder.

Thunder coach Scott Brooks said before the game (per The Sports Xchange) that he wasn't sure when Durant would return to the lineup. OKC is playing in Philadelphia on Saturday.

Durant, the NBA's leading scorer at 31.0 points per game, aggravated a previous shoulder injury Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs. He stayed in the game and finished with 36 points, extending his streak of 30-plus games to nine.


KOBE STILL WANTS TO PLAY


Kobe Bryant appreciates NBA fans voting him into the All-Star Game, but the 16-time all-star has made it clear that he doesn’t want to play.

Bryant, who has played just six games this season due to injuries, asked fans to vote for young players like Damian Lillard for the all-star game. He didn’t get his wish as Bryant was voted a starter for the Western conference team.

But Bryant still doesn’t want to play.

“With all due respect to the fans that voted me in, I certainly appreciate that, they know how much I appreciate that, but you got to do the right thing as well,” Bryant told ESPNLosAngeles.com after Thursday’s loss to the Heat. “My fans know you got to reward these young guys for the work that they’ve been putting in….

“I think it’s important for them to go in and perform. They’ve been playing all season. They deserve to be in there. They deserve to play. So, I see no reason why they shouldn’t be out there doing their thing.”

Bryant may not get his wish, though. According to NBCSports.com’s ProBasketballTalk, the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement stipulates that if a player is voted into the all-star game or selected by coaches as a reserve, he has to play.

The commissioner could grant Bryant an exemption, but NBCSports.com says that probably won’t happen because Bryant is expected to return to action before the all-star game. According to NBC, Bryant could be suspended for two games if he chooses not to play in the all-star game.

According to NBC, Commissioner David Stern is not likely to let Bryant skip the all-star game because it would set a bad precedent for the league and because he would have to allow other injured players, like Dwayne Wade, to miss it.

Contributors: Sean Deveney, Tom Gatto, The Associated Press