VALENCIA, Spain -- Former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero will end his 14-year playing career after competing in his hometown Valencia Open next month. Ferrero moved to the top of the rankings in 2003 and remained there for eight weeks after winning the French Open and reaching the U.S. Open final, where he lost to another recently retired former No. 1, Andy Roddick. In 14 years as a professional, the Valencia native won 15 titles. Ferreros last trophy came in 2011 on Stuttgarts outdoor clay courts, but since then he has struggled and slid to 111th in the rankings. "It was a complicated decision to leave a world you have lived in intensely since six or seven years old," the 32-year-old Spaniard said on Wednesday. "But I have had a tough year and you start to notice that you dont have the same ambition and motivation." Ferrero helped Spain win the first two of its five Davis Cups in 2000 and 2004. "The 2000 Davis Cup is something unforgettable for all Spaniards. I was very young and little by little I realized how important it was both for me and the country," Ferrero said. "Winning a Grand Slam and becoming the world No. 1 are both unforgettable peaks of my career." Ferrero followed Carlos Moya (1999) and preceded Rafael Nadal (2008) as Spains three male players to have reached the worlds top spot. "What I will miss most is the competition, we (players) live for the competition. It will be difficult to fill the void in this new life I am going to begin now, but I have plenty of things to do," Ferrero said, adding he will dedicate his time to his tennis academy and hotel. Spain Davis Cup captain Alex Corretja, Ferreros teammate in 2000, said his retirement meant "the loss of a reference for a generation of players." The Valencia Open will be from Oct. 20-28. NEW YORK -- Blame the Christmas carols. In a "Bah humbug!" moment, Carmelo Anthony jokingly suggested the halftime music messed up the mood, offering that among a couple of reasons for the Knicks slow start Sunday. He made sure no excuses were needed at the end. Anthony scored 19 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, rallying New York to a 94-91 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. New York trailed from the opening minutes until Anthony scored eight straight points down the stretch. He had scored just nine points on 3-of-11 shooting in the first half, but had the final 12 for the Knicks to give them a 4-2 finish on their six-game homestand. "It was just a matter of just getting it going. I think for the first half we were sluggish, seemed that we didnt have no momentum, no energy, it looked like our legs wasnt there in the first half," Anthony said. "Once again, we dug ourselves a hole and we fought out of the hole today. This game was one of them games that we didnt want to lose and we wasnt going to lose." They almost did, though. The Knicks fell behind shortly after the rare 5 p.m. tip-off, stayed behind most of the way and couldnt get much energy from the arena, with Anthony saying the halftime Christmas music "kind of put us to sleep a little bit." "I love Christmas music, but it was just the time of the game. We was down, we didnt have no energy, then they threw the Chestnuts are roasting," Anthony added. J.R. Smith added 19 points and Tyson Chandler had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Knicks, who headed to the airport afterward for a trip to Los Angeles for their Christmas Day game against former coach Mike DAntoni and the Lakers. "This was a big game for us. Sunday afternoon game, tough one, Christmas is right around the corner, were going on the road. These are the kind of games that you lose, that you get lured into," Chandler said. "Minnesotas a tough team, Minnesotas not an easy team, they play well together and I was proud of the guys for really being able to turn it on in the second half, gut it out and get this win before we start this road trip." Nikola Pekovic had 21 points and 17 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who played without star forward Kevin Love because of an eye injury. Alexey Shved added 18 points for Minnesota. Love was poked in the eye late in the Wolves 99-93 victory overr Oklahoma City on Thursday and didnt travel with the team to New York.ddddddddddddThey nearly pulled it out without him, leading almost the entire night before falling for the third time in four games. "We battled. We had a great game, it just didnt go our way there in the last couple of minutes," guard J.J. Barea said. "We just couldnt get a break there at the end and I think it hurt us." Anthony made a 3-pointer with 1:53 left to get New York within one, then fought off the tough defence of Andrei Kirilenko, scoring while being fouled and converting the three-point play with 1:13 to play that made it 88-86, the Knicks first lead since it was 5-4. Anthony followed with two free throws for a four-point lead, and after Shveds 3-pointer cut it to one, Anthony sank two free throws with 16.5 seconds remaining. The Wolves got it to one again on Bareas drive, but Anthony again knocked down two free throws with 6.7 seconds left, and Shved was well short on a tying 3-point attempt. Even with Love out and Ricky Rubios minutes still restricted following major knee surgery, Minnesota led 29-22 after one and never gave up the lead in the half, even when the Knicks seemed to be putting together some momentum. Smith threw down a dunk in Greg Stiemsmas face as one of the Knicks three straight baskets right at the rim, but Minnesota shook off that surge and scored the final seven points of the half, taking a 55-46 lead on Luke Ridnours 3-pointer. The Wolves had the lead up to 11 a couple of times in the third quarter and were still ahead 73-71 heading to the fourth. Ridnour had 14 points, and Barea and Dante Cunningham each scored 12 for the Wolves. Notes: Knicks coach Mike Woodson seemed to rule Amare Stoudemire out of the road trip, saying he thought it would be best to have the forward practice against his teammates when they get back before he plays. But Marcus Camby, who has been sidelined by a sore left foot and has barely played this season, said he will be ready to play Tuesday. ... The crowd included Yankees star Derek Jeter and former Knicks guard Richie Guerin, who had an opportunity to see a highlight of his on the "Garden 366" display along the concourse, which marks an event that took place at MSG for each day of the calendar. Guerins was Dec. 11. On that date in 1959, he had the first 50-point game in franchise history at the old Garden. ' ' '