LOS ANGELES -- Carmelo Anthony was supposed to take the last shot. Instead, Jose Calderon launched it.

"It wasn't the play that was drawn up, but he made it," Anthony said.

Calderon nailed a tiebreaking 3-pointer with two-tenths of a second left, lifting the New York Knicks to a 90-87 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night at Staples Center.

Calderon's game-winner occurred after Kobe Bryant missed a bucket that would have given the Lakers a lead with 9.9 seconds remaining.

"The last shot is always tough," said Calderon, who had nine points and six assists. "Today, it (went) in. We got the win. It was perfect."

Anthony led all players with both 26 points and 12 rebounds as the Knicks (28-40) defeated the Lakers for the fourth time in a row. It also was a sweet ending for Anthony as he and the Knicks beat the Lakers and Bryant, who is retiring at season's end, in their final meeting.

"It was a very emotional situation from the standpoint of competing with one of the greats, friend and brother, one last time," said Anthony, who scored 18 points in the second half, 12 of those in the final quarter. "The way that this game played itself out, we didn't want it to come down to the wire, but it was one of those games that was for the ages."

Robin Lopez, who scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds for New York, took an inbounds pass near midcourt from Calderon that sailed and almost resulted in Lopez committing a backcourt violation. He gave the ball back to Calderon, who drove to his right and squared up for the jumper that boosted the Knicks to the win.

Bryant defended Anthony on the last play and prevented him from sniffing the rock. Anthony even laughed afterward about how Bryant knew the play they were running with all his past campaigns under Phil Jackson and the Lakers running the triangle offense.

"You know you're not getting the ball on this setup," Bryant said he told Anthony. "I hit 10 game-winners from this set."

Lou Williams, who returned after missing five games with a mild left hamstring strain, had 15 points to lead the Lakers (14-53). Williams scored 11 points in the fourth quarter.

Bryant finished with 14 points, Jordan Clarkson added 12 points and Brandon Bass had 11.

"Just one of those nights for us," Clarkson said.

The Knicks led 65-60 heading into the fourth quarter. Two foul shots by Lakers guard Marcelo Huertas with 5:23 left tied the score at 74 before the teams traded buckets down the stretch.

Bryant's turnaround jumper put the Lakers up 85-81 before a 3-pointer and a jumper by Anthony gave the Knicks an 86-85 advantage with 54.8 seconds left.

Williams' basket put the Lakers by one, but a free throw by Lopez tied the score again with 29 seconds remaining. After Bryant's miss rimmed out, Calderon delivered.

New York held a 46-35 lead at the break, taking advantage of Los Angeles' struggles offensively in the first half. The Knicks shot 47.4 percent to 31.8 percent for the Lakers, who also missed nine of their 11 3-point attempts, before intermission. The Knicks made just two of seven from 3-point range.

The Lakers managed 15.8 percent shooting in the first quarter to 35 percent for the Knicks as New York held an 18-11 edge after one quarter. The 11 points tied a season low for Los Angeles.

For the game, the Knicks shot 44 percent compared to 40 percent for the Lakers.

Knicks rookie forward Kristaps Porzingis sat out the contest with a stomach ailment.

New York's Arron Afflalo returned to the lineup after a two-game absence caused by a strained right abdominal muscle. He had nine points in 27 minutes.

NOTES: Phil Jackson, the former Lakers coach who is now president of the Knicks, received an appreciative reception from the crowd when his image was shown on the video board. ... With help from Hall of Famer James Worthy, a former Laker, F Julius Randle continues to show improvement offensively. The left-handed Randle, who is averaging 11.7 points and a club-high 10.1 rebounds per game, is slowly developing his shooting inside with his right hand. "James has done a real good job of talking to him and showing him some things with his off hand he can do around the basket," coach Byron Scott said of Randle, who tied a career best with 23 points and 11 rebounds against the Orlando Magic on Tuesday. "The one thing about it is he's willing to (work on his game)." ... Los Angeles hosts the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday. New York visits the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.