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Mike Woodson On Unbeaten Knicks: 'This Team Is For Real'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- How 'bout those Knicks?!

It didn't look good midway through the fourth quarter Thursday night in San Antonio. Down 12, New York was seven minutes away from joining the rest of the NBA with at least one loss.

A stunning 27-11 run later and the Knicks remained unbeaten. A perfect 6-0, dropping the tough Spurs to 7-2.

"It shows me that this team is for real," coach Mike Woodson said after his club's 104-100 win. "We beat a great team tonight — a well-coached team. It's the first time I've ever won in San Antonio, so I feel pretty good about that. It's tough to win here."

J.R. Smith continued his mastery in the sixth man role with 17 points and five rebounds.

"First time for Woody to win here as a head coach, so it's very important to us," said Smith, who recently admitted to refocusing on his craft after partying too hard last season. "It really show us where we stand."

It wasn't a walk in the park for star forward Carmelo Anthony, who seemed frustrated by the Spurs' ability to neutralize his game on offense. He had just nine points, shooting 3 for 12 from the field, but contributed in a big way with 12 rebounds.

The offense was carried instead by Smith and point guard Raymond Felton, who finished with 25 points and seven assists.

"The thing I told Carmelo right away was that they were not going to let him score," said Jason Kidd. "I saw it all the time when I was with Dallas, and how the Spurs would approach Dirk (Nowitzki). They do a great job taking away your No. 1 scorer.

"But Melo still gave us a great game with the other things he did, including his rebounding."

Anthony said facing San Antonio was a "true test." While it wasn't as crisp as their first give games, it was still another notch in the win column.

Consider the league on notice.

"We're getting better," said Anthony. "This was definitely a true test for us, as far as us sticking together as a team and doing it at both ends."

Admit it, you didn't expect the Knicks to be this good. Sound off in the comments below!

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