Raymond Felton scored a season-high 27 points, and the New York Knicks connected on 18 3-pointers to more than offset the absence of Carmelo Anthony while topping Miami for the second time this season, beating the host Heat, 112-92, Thursday night.

Steve Novak scored 18 points, J.R. Smith added 13 and Tyson Chandler scored 13 for the Knicks, who won their fifth straight and moved 1½ games clear of Miami for the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks made eight 3-pointers in the third quarter alone, the most by any NBA team in any quarter so far this season.

Anthony sat out, one night after needing five stitches to close a cut on the middle finger of his left hand.

LeBron James nearly picked up his second straight triple-double — 31 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists — in Miami’s second straight loss. Dwyane Wade scored 13 points, Chris Bosh had 12 and Udonis Haslem added 10 for the Heat, who fell to 8-1 at home.

Rasheed Wallace scored 12 and Jason Kidd added 11 for the Knicks, who finished 18 for 44 from 3-point range.

It was tied at 53 at the half, and the third quarter changed everything for the Knicks. Kidd made a 3-pointer, Felton followed with consecutive 3s and New York was up by 9 with 9:42 left in the period and the Heat seemed stunned.

In all, it was an eight-3-pointers-in-eight-minutes barrage that decided this one, with five players getting in on the act for the Knicks.

Mavericks 97, Suns 94 — O.J. Mayo scored 23 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 35 seconds to go, and Dallas held on to hand host Phoenix its fifth loss in a row.

Brandan Wright and Darren Collison scored 16 apiece for Dallas. Wright’s total was a season high. Chris Kaman added 15 points.

Markieff Morris had 15 points and a career-best 17 rebounds for the Suns, who rallied from 15 down in the third quarter to tie it in the final minute.