NEW YORK -- Carmelo Anthony watched from the bench in the fourth quarter as the future of the New York Knicks pulled out a 114-113 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Whether Anthony, who has been the subject of trade talks for most of the season, will join the younger players next year remains to be seen. The Knicks' leading scorer has a no-trade clause in his contract and would have to approve any deal.

Anthony scored 17 points in only 23 minutes, but the night belonged to rookies Maurice N'dour, Ron Baker and Marshall Plumlee. N'dour's step-back jumper with 18.3 seconds remaining gave the Knicks just their fourth win in the last 13 games.

The Knicks trailed by nine entering the fourth quarter and tied the score three times before Ndour's game-winner.

Plumlee had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the first double-double of his career. His reverse dunk tied it at 106 with 2:13 to play.

The Knicks took a 109-108 lead on Baker's 3-pointer with 70 seconds left, but a 3-pointer by Nik Stauskas put Philadelphia in front 113-112 with 31.1 seconds remaining.

Justin Holiday, who led the Knicks (31-51) with 20 points, tied the score at 104 when he sank three free throws after getting fouled on a 3-point attempt with 3:06 remaining

Justin Anderson scored a career-high 26 points for Philadelphia (28-54), which lost its last seven games.

"I told Melo (Anthony), in the fourth quarter we will probably play the young guys," Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said. "He was fine with it."

Hornacek said it would have been easy for his team to be dejected after getting eliminated from the playoffs three weeks ago, but the Knicks kept it together.

"The guy's heads were down, but they played hard" Hornacek said. "Our young guys came out tonight and made big plays. I think every guys out there made some sort of big play in those last three minutes.

"I'm proud of these guys (Baker, Plumlee, N'dour). They worked hard all year long and they got much better. We're looking for forward to next year and trying to change things around.”

New York concluded its fourth straight non-playoff season missing the playoffs for the fourth straight season. The Knicks made the playoffs in 14 straight seasons from 1988 to 2001 but have missed the playoffs in 12 of the last 16 campaigns and closed out their seventh season with at least 50 losses since 2001.

One area of improvement Hornacek said is a priority in the offseason is building a better defense. The Knicks finished in the bottom 10 in points allowed and defensive rating.

"We have to get more gritty on defense," he said. "We might have to go to more fundamental stuff. The very simple part of it."

The Sixers, losers of eight straight to end the season, concluded their fifth straight losing season without six key players due to injuries. Ben Simmons, the first overall pick in the 2016 draft, missed the season after breaking a foot, Jahlil Okafor (sore right knee) has not played since mid-March and Joel Embiid (left knee) has not played since Jan. 27.

Philadelphia's 18-win improvement over last season was the team's second highest in franchise history.

"I feel so confident that we're heading in the right direction," Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said. "There's a system in place that I'm proud of and believe in. I think in many ways it's a plug-and-play thing. There's a certain way that we want to play, that we believe in, and feel comfortable teaching.

"And so I leave this year thinking that the system is a lot stronger."

NOTES: The 76ers outscored the Knicks 72-40 in the paint. ... Philadelphia G Gerald Henderson Jr. was fined for his Flagrant-2 foul after throwing an elbow to the head of Indiana's Paul George. The incident occurred with 2:59 remaining in the fourth quarter of Monday's 120-111 loss. ... Knicks C Joakim Noah needs surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder. He hasn't played since late February after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. While rehabbing the knee, he was suspended for 20 games for using a banned substance. Noah averaged five points and 8.8 rebounds in 46 games during the first-year of a four-year contract. ... Philadelphia Rookie of the Year candidate Dario Saric missed his first game of the season with left heel soreness. ... New York was without Kristaps Porzingis (sore back). He finished his second season averaging 18.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.0 blocks.