Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reports:
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Danilo Gallinari made a believer out of Tracy McGrady and Denver’s Carmelo Anthony after the 6-foot-10 forward scored 17 of his team-high 28 points in the third quarter of Tuesday’s win over the Nuggets. Gallinari asked to guard Anthony, and in the decisive third quarter, the two players traded shots and words in a classic duel that had the Garden buzzing.
“That was like, ‘(forget) everybody else, it’s me and you,’ ” McGrady said. “I haven’t seen (Hedo) Turkoglu and Dirk (Nowitzki) do that. They play within the team concept. That was ‘get me the ball and everybody move out of the way.’ I was enjoying it.”
Gallinari has always been one of the Knicks’ more physically and mentally tough players. He’ll play through pain, he’s not afraid to take big shots and he won’t back down from a challenge. In December, after the Clippers’ Baron Davis hit Gallinari with an elbow, Gallinari returned the favor after grabbing a rebound. Davis looked stunned.
