SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- When the score is close late in the game, the New York Knicks have a feeling something good is going to happen. For coach Jeff Hornacek, it's starting to become a tangible thing.

"They've got a confidence going," he said. "And we just try to keep reiterating during the timeouts, we're going to win this game."

The pattern stayed the same Friday night. Carmelo Anthony made two free throws with 14.8 seconds left, capping a 33-point night and lifting the Knicks to a nip-and-tuck 103-100 victory over the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center.

The Knicks played without guard Derrick Rose (back spasms) but still improved to 6-0 in games decided by four points or less. At 13-10, they are off to their best 13-game start since a 54-win campaign in 2012-13.

"Sometimes, when you have veteran guys, they know how to lock down," Hornacek said. "I think in these games that are close, it hasn't always been the scoring. It's really been our defensive stops late in the game."

Anthony topped 30 points for the fifth time this season and became the 29th player to reach 23,000 points. With 23,022, he's 127 shy of Hall of Fame forward Elgin Baylor on the career list.

Anthony scored 23 points in the first half and 15 in the opening quarter during a wide-open half that set the tide for the back-and-forth affair.

The score was tied 12 times, and there were 17 lead changes. The last came with Joakim Noah, a 26 percent free-throw shooter (7 of 27) entering the game, made two straight for a 99-98 Knicks lead with 2:09 left.

The Kings (8-14) scored only one more basket --- a layup by DeMarcus Cousins --- the rest of the way.

"It's five guys locked in, knowing what we have to do to get a stop," Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis said. "When we do that, we're pretty hard to score against, and that's made a difference for us."

Porzingis finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and the Knicks began a five-game Western Conference road trip by winning for the fifth time in six games and for the 10th time in 13. He scored seven points in the fourth quarter and led an 11-4 run that put the Knicks ahead 89-84 with 7:37 left.

Cousins finished 28 points and 12 rebounds to lead Sacramento, which played without forward Matt Barnes (scheduled rest). Cousins' shot from the Kings' side of the court as the final buzzer sounded clanked off the front rim.

Cousins lamented New York's 42-33 advantage on the glass, including 12-6 on the offensive glass, all of which played a factor in dropping Sacramento to 3-4 in games decided by five points or less.

"We're giving up a lot of second opportunities," he said. "Not just giving up baskets but just giving them chances to score. We've got to correct those things or we're going to keep losing close games."

Cousins also missed a layup that proved costly. With the Kings down 99-98, he got a step on Porzingis but clanked the shot with 21 seconds left.

"I make that layup in my sleep," Cousins said.

New York's Brandon Jennings then made two free throws on the other end after a foul by Darren Collison. Cousins made a layup, but Anthony converted after a foul by Omri Casspi.

Collison finished with 14 points and stepped back to nail a 3-pointer to tie the score 92-92, then added a layup after a steal for a two-point Sacramento lead. But the Kings scored only once more after Collison's two free throws that put them ahead 98-97 with 2:11 left.

"We didn't make a shot in the last minute, 1:10," Kings coach Dave Joerger said. "It's nobody's fault, nobody's trying to miss. We executed and got where we wanted."

Rudy Gay finished with 13 points but missed an open 3-pointer with three seconds left that would have tied the score. Casspi scored 12 points and Ben McLemore and Anthony Tolliver had 10 apiece for the Kings.

NOTES: Knicks G Derrick Rose is expected to return to the Knicks' lineup on Sunday when they face the Los Angeles Lakers. Rose has missed two straight games after playing in New York's first 22. ... Kings coach Dave Joerger said he rested F Matt Barnes because it was a scheduled night off, not for reasons tied to a report in the New York Daily News that stated Barnes' arrest on suspicion of misdemeanor assault is imminent. Barnes and C DeMarcus Cousins were investigated after an altercation at a New York City nightclub early Monday. The paper reported Cousins is not expected to be charged. Barnes played Sacramento's first 21 games, and Joerger said he would've rested Barnes in Dallas on Wednesday but didn't want to create the perception Barnes was being disciplined. ... New York does not play any back-to-back games on its current five-game Western Conference road trip, the first time that has happened for the Knicks on a trip this long since late in the 2009-10 season. ... The NBA denied Toronto's protest of Sacramento's buzzer-beater-defying 102-99 win over the Raptors on Nov. 20. A 3-pointer by Raptors G Terrence Ross that would have tied the score appeared to beat the buzzer, but referees reviewed the play and denied the three.