Knicks 117, Wizards 110

Just over eight months ago, Carmelo Anthony underwent surgery on his left knee. On Saturday night, in his third regular-season game since then, he had a terrific performance against Washington.

Anthony scored 37 points to ruin the Wizards’ home opener as New York beat Washington.

“It felt good. It’s been a while since February. I keep saying it, but it’s been a while for me to kind of have this experience,” Anthony said.

Anthony was 11 for 18 from the field — hitting eight straight shots at one point — and hit four of his five 3-point attempts.

“It was just one of them days that — even this morning at shootaround things were just feeling good. I worked out a little bit after shootaround, things felt good; before the game, things felt good. So it was just one of those days,” Anthony said.

“I’m never surprised, but I’ll take it. At this point, you build it, it’ll come.”

Washington failed in its attempt to start a season 3-0 for the first time since 2005-06.

Bradley Beal, who scored 22 of his 26 points in the second half, led Washington while John Wall had 25.

The Knicks (2-1) won their second road game of the season. They won a total of seven road games last season.

Anthony missed his first two field goal attempts — then hit the eight straight — including four 3-pointers — before his next miss.

After his first 3-pointer, he trotted over to Washington owner Ted Leonsis, who was seated near his team’s bench, and the two bumped fists.

“He’s just a good guy. I’m just showing my respect for him,” Anthony said.

Otto Porter, who tried to defend Anthony, found it frustrating.

“It’s all about his rhythm. Once he gets his rhythm, he’s hard to defend,” Porter said. “He’s a different player this year.”

“The commitment to defend is not there,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. “I’ve got to change that.”

The game was physical, featuring 62 fouls and three technicals. It was an extraordinarily long regular-season game, 2 hours, 38 minutes.

“The physical nature of the game — I thought that brought the best out of Melo,” New York coach Derek Fisher said. “There was a composure and a poise to everything he did.”

Wittman was not on hand for the start of the game because he was attending the memorial service for longtime NBA coach Flip Saunders in Minnesota.

Wittman returned for the start of the second quarter. He said he didn’t consider staying away.

“Flip would have wanted me to coach. He wouldn’t have wanted me to miss a game, based on him, I can guarantee that,” Wittman said. “I had a good day with the (Saunders) family, an opportunity to spend some time with them, but it was a tough, tough day.”

Saunders and Wittman worked together for both the Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington. Wittman succeeded Saunders when he was fired by the Wizards in January 2012.

Assistant coaches Don Newman and Don Zierden coached Washington for the first quarter.

A moment of silence for Saunders was observed before the game.

Grizzlies 101, Nets 91

Mike Conley scored 22 points, including 10 straight in the fourth quarter, and had eight assists to lead Memphis.

Conley, who was 7 of 12 from the field, including 4 of 7 from outside the arc, scored his 10 straight points to hold off the Nets who were trying to rally from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit.

Zach Randolph and Courtney Lee scored 15 points each for Memphis with Randolph grabbing 13 rebounds. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 19 points and Jarrett Jack finished with 15 for the Nets (0-3). Brook Lopez had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Memphis held its largest lead of the game at 88-72 with 7:42 left. But Brooklyn cut the deficit to 92-84, as close as the Nets would get.

Warriors 134, Pelicans 120

Stephen Curry scored 53 points, taking over the game with a 28-point third quarter, and unbeaten Golden State defeated winless New Orleans.

Curry outscored all the Pelicans by two points in the third period, giving the reigning NBA MVP a career-high for scoring in a quarter. He wound up shooting 17 of 27 from the field, including 8 of 14 from 3-point range, to go with nine assists and four steals.

Draymond Green scored 21 points and Klay Thompson added 19 for defending champion Golden State, which has won its first three games this season.

Anthony Davis had 26 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks for the injury-depleted Pelicans, who have lost their first three games under new coach Alvin Gentry. Two of the losses have come against Golden State, where Gentry was an assistant last season.

Jazz 97, Pacers 76

Derrick Favors scored 18 points and Utah outscored Indiana by 33 in the second half of a victory.

The Pacers led for almost the entire first half, but tables turned in the third quarter when Utah outscored Indiana 28-12 after trailing by seven at halftime. The Jazz (2-1) led by nine points at the end of the third quarter and by as many as 21 in the fourth quarter.

Favors, one of six Jazz to score in double figures, had seven rebounds.

George Hill scored 17 points and Paul George added 16 for Indiana (0-3), which has lost the lead in the third quarter and given up a total of 189 points in the second half of its three games this season.

Clippers 114, Kings 109

Blake Griffin had 37 points, nine rebounds and six assists to lead the Clippers.

J.J. Redick added 23 points and Chris Paul had 17 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, who won their fifth straight and 18th in the last 21 meetings with the Kings. The streak includes a 111-104 win at Sacramento last Wednesday in the season opener for both clubs.

DeAndre Jordan had 15 points and 18 rebounds for the Clippers, who are off to their first 3-0 start since winning their first four games in 2007-08.

Rajon Rondo had 21 points and eight assists and Rudy Gay added 20 points for the Kings, while DeMarcus Cousins had 13 points and nine rebounds, but was limited to 15 minutes because of a sore right Achilles. Seven-foot center Willie Cauley-Stein, the team’s first-round draft pick, had eight points and nine rebounds.

Suns 101, Trail Blazers 90

Eric Bledsoe scored 33 points, one shy of his career high, to lead Phoenix to its second win over Portland in as many nights.

On Friday in Phoenix, Bledsoe had 22 points as the Suns prevailed 110-92.

Damian Lillard had 23 points for the Blazers and CJ McCollum added 15.

Tyson Chandler, signed by the Suns in the offseason, had 15 points and 13 rebounds in the win on Friday, but had five points and 11 rebounds in Portland.