76ers-Knicks Preview

By JUSTIN EINHORN
Posted Mar 10 2012 3:28PM

A few weeks ago when Linsanity was still sweeping the nation, it appeared the New York Knicks might be on track to pass the slumping Philadelphia 76ers for the Atlantic Division lead.

While the 76ers seemed to right the ship this week, the Knicks have fallen further behind them with a winless March.

Philadelphia looks for a third straight easy victory - after a three-week stretch in which it won twice - and tries to hand New York an unhappy homecoming Sunday following a bad road trip.

The emergence of Jeremy Lin sparked the Knicks' eight-game winning streak that went into mid-February. They trailed the first-place 76ers by 7 1/2 games to begin that month, but the deficit was down to three on Feb. 22 after Philadelphia suffered a fifth straight loss.

The Knicks (18-22) have failed to take their momentum into March. They've opened the month by losing four consecutive road games greatly due to poor defense, allowing an average of 111.8 points.

"We have a long way to go as a team but we have a lot of good pieces," forward Steve Novak said. "If we're just able to blend those and figure it out, by the end of the year were going to be tough."

Lin had 14 points in the first two games of the trip and 20 in the last two. He averaged just 5.3 assists in the first three games, then had 13 on Friday but committed five turnovers as New York lost 119-114 at Milwaukee.

"Tonight wasn't a lack of energy, it wasn't a lack of heart or will," Lin said.

While Carmelo Anthony's return hasn't benefited the Knicks, center Tyson Chandler rejoining the lineup certainly could. They're 2-6 with Anthony back - he's averaged 18.4 points - after missing seven games with a strained groin. Chandler (hamstring) might return Sunday after sitting out two games, during which New York was outrebounded by 15 while giving up at least 118 points in each.

The porous defense has made Amare Stoudemire's scoring surge irrelevant, averaging 23.7 points over the past three games.

"Offense should never be a problem," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "What we have to do is have consistent energy, we have to defend harder and we have to have a desperation about us that we need to get in the playoffs."

D'Antoni's club is 5 1/2 back of the division lead after the 76ers (24-17) put together double-digit wins at home in their last two games. They had been in a 2-8 slump.

Two nights after routing Boston 103-71, Philadelphia never trailed in the second of a 104-91 victory over Utah on Friday.

Thaddeus Young missed the Celtics game with a respiratory illness but came back Friday to score 21. The 76ers are now at full strength other than missing center Spencer Hawes (Achilles), though he could return next week.

"(Being healthy) means a lot," said Elton Brand, who missed four games in February with a thumb injury. "It's good to have just about a full group back. You can see what it means."

Evan Turner's emergence also could be a big help. Turner scored 16 points Friday after having a career-high 26 on Wednesday, and he's averaged 11.0 rebounds in three games since joining the starting lineup.

"Evan is such a versatile player," Brand said. "He's such a threat out there on the court."

While the 76ers have dropped five of six on the road, the Knicks have won seven of nine at home.

New York has won six of eight in this series, including an 85-79 home victory Jan. 11 in the lone matchup this season as Anthony and Stoudemire combined for 47 points.

76ers hand Knicks 5th straight loss, 106-94

By BRIAN MAHONEY
Posted Mar 11 2012 4:57PM

NEW YORK (AP) Lou Williams did more than take over the game in the third quarter. He took whatever spirit the sagging New York Knicks had left.

The good feelings created last month by Jeremy Lin's emergence - along with Lin's best play - seem long gone now.

"When we get down, it just seems like our whole energy just goes out the door," Carmelo Anthony said.

Williams scored 12 of his 28 points in a dazzling flurry, Evan Turner had 24 points and 15 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers handed the Knicks their fifth straight loss with a 106-94 victory Sunday.

Williams tossed in a long jumper to beat the halftime buzzer, then had a dozen points in the final 3:28 of the third quarter, when the 76ers seized control for their third straight victory.

"I was just able to get some good looks," Williams said. "In the third quarter, played with a ton of confidence and felt like I could make any shots."

That mentality doesn't currently exist for the Knicks, with bad body language everywhere and Anthony saying they had "no type of confidence out there."

"We hit a snag and we seem to whither and for whatever reason we haven't overcome any kind of obstacles," coach Mike D'Antoni said.

Andre Iguodala had 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the 76ers, who turned a competitive game into a rout to end a three-game losing streak to the Knicks.

Anthony scored 22 points but didn't make a field goal over the final three quarters, while Lin shot just 5 of 18 for 14 points with seven assists and six turnovers. Tyson Chandler had eight points and 12 rebounds after missing two games with a strained left hamstring, but he couldn't solve the Knicks' defensive woes.

Philadelphia was up by eight late in the third quarter before Williams took over. He made two 3-pointers, a pair of jumpers and two free throws as the 76ers outscored the Knicks 16-8 to open an 89-73 lead.

"Third quarter, I guess, you know they hit a lot of shots, we were a step slow on defense and I didn't take care of the ball," Lin said. "So they get easy run-outs in transition and then we didn't box out the way we should have, so more easy baskets and they get into a flow, they get into a rhythm."

Williams nailed another 3 early in the fourth, and Turner followed with two free throws to push the lead to 21.

The Sixers have rebounded from a five-game skid before the All-Star break and followed a convincing victory over Boston by beating Utah before Sunday's win. Thaddeus Young had 14 points, joining Williams in another strong performance by one of the league's best benches.

"That's our recipe," coach Doug Collins said. "I told guys after the game, I said that's what we do. There's going to be teams that we play against that will have more talent that we got to hope at the end of the day that our numbers makes us a better team. That's been our whole emphasis."

The Knicks might have hoped to catch the Atlantic Division leaders at one point but now are simply hoping to hold onto a playoff spot after entering play just two games ahead of Milwaukee and Cleveland.

They dropped all four games on their road trip and looked particularly lost without Chandler, their defensive anchor. They yielded 118 points in a loss at San Antonio and surrendered 119 on Friday against Milwaukee, and now travel to powerful Chicago on Monday.

"Yeah, it's definitely not easy," said Amare Stoudemire, who scored just nine points and sat alongside Anthony for the entire fourth quarter. "Tough game in Chicago. A lot of games within this month against tough, competitive teams. So it's up to us as players to want to do better out there."

It's not only the defensive effort. D'Antoni conceded before the games the intensity just isn't always there from his team, saying the Knicks sometimes get "lost" or "sidetracked."

And the crowd is recognizing it.

The building was often quiet, fans perhaps a little groggy after the clocks sprung forward and with an early start. But the Knicks also are not entertaining them the way they did during their seven-game winning streak last month. Lin has been solid but couldn't be expected to sustain his sensational level of play, and the Knicks are still unable to settle on their best rotation with a much deeper roster than they had back then.

Anthony, usually loudly cheered, had some boos sprinkled in when he was introduced with the starting lineups. A brief "Fire D'Antoni!" chant broke out in the final minutes, and there were some loud boos near the finish.

"Times where we went on a little spurt where we didn't make shots, guys were putting their heads down," Anthony said, "and they heard a couple of boos out there, that just sucked the whole energy out of everybody tonight out there on the basketball court and we can't have that."

The Knicks led 24-22 after one quarter behind 12 points from Anthony. But New York turned it over six times in the second, and the 76ers went up 51-49 after Williams hit a long jumper from the corner as the first half ended.

Anthony was 5 of 7 in the first quarter but missed his final six shots, mostly while guarded by fellow All-Star Iguodala.

"I pretty much take every game with the same approach. You go up against players with Carmelo's type of ability, you have to kind of focus in a little more of not letting him get certain catches, and try to keep him off his comfort zone," Iguodala said. "The team did a good job. We had a couple of spots where we doubled and helped keep the ball out of his hands and trying to keep him out of rhythm."

NOTES: The Sixers are 25-17 after they were 17-25 through 42 games last season. ... Collins said center Spencer Hawes, who has a strained left Achilles and has missed 28 games, could play 2-on-2 Monday and increase his workouts throughout the week. ... D'Antoni didn't rule out forward Jared Jeffries (sore right knee) for Monday at Chicago but is aiming more for Wednesday or Friday.

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Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney

Notebook: Sixers 106, Knicks 94

Posted Sunday March 11, 2012 3:12PM

By Adam Zagoria, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Lou Williams scored a season-high 28 points and Evan Turner added 24 points and 15 rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers won their third straight, 106-94, over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Carmelo Anthony had a team-best 22 for the Knicks, who dropped their fifth straight and must travel to Chicago for a Monday night game. Their longest losing streak this year is six games.

After returning from a two-game absence because of a strained left hamstring, Tyson Chandler had eight points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks.

Jeremy Lin finished with 14 points, seven assists and six turnovers for the Knicks.

QUOTABLE: "When you get your rear kicked liked we are, you just can't come out and say it's this, it's that. It's just collectively we didn't play well, collectively our spirit's not good and collectively our defense is not very good at all. Collectively, we just didn't do what we're supposed to do. And we gotta solve that somehow."
-- Mike D'Antoni

THE STAT: Amar'e Stoudemire shot just 4-for-9 for nine points and five rebounds and, along with Anthony, sat down the stretch for the Knicks.

TURNING POINT: Young (13 points) and Turner (12) combined for 25 in the third period when the Sixers outscored the Knicks, 38-24, turning a taut 51-49 halftime lead into an 89-73 rout after three.

QUOTABLE II: "We were clicking on both ends. We were getting stops and we were getting rebounds and pushing to get fast-break points. I think we did a better job tonight of trying to get to the basket and trying to get the foul calls and get to the free throw line. That kind of made the basket a little bit bigger for us. Evan made some shots and then Lou got a little hot there as well."
-- Sixers' Andre Iguodala on the third period

QUOTABLE III: "Obviously tonight the third quarter juts doomed us. Thirty-nine points in the third quarter is just crazy. It's hard to explain sometimes."
-- D'Antoni

WHO'S HOT: For the third straight game Turner tallied double-figures in scoring for the Sixers. Since a two-point effort when he entered the starting lineup March 5 at Milwaukee, Turner has gone for 26 in a win vs. Boston, 16 in a win over Utah and 24 in this game

WHO'S NOT: J.R. Smith followed his three-point effort in Friday's loss at Milwaukee with a 4-for-13, 12-point, -4 effort in this one. Smith was also fined $25,000 by the NBA Saturday for posting inappropriate pictures on this Twitter.

NOTABLE: Since winning seven in a row during the height of Linsanity, the Knicks (18-23) have lost eight of 11. They entered the day with a two-game lead on Milwaukee and Cleveland for the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference.

NOTABLE II: The Knicks started three different two guards in their last three games, Iman Shumpert against San Antonio, Smith against Milwaukee and Landry Fields in this game.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Seth Meyers, Michael J. Fox and John McEnroe sat courtside.

UP NEXT: For the Knicks, Monday @ Bulls, Wednesday vs. Blazers, Friday vs. Pacers. For the Sixers, Wednesday @ Pacers, Friday @ Heat, Saturday at Bulls.

• 76ers: Hawes
• Knicks: Jeffries, Walker

• 76ers: Turner
• Knicks: Stoudemire

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
• Officials: #32 Eddie F. Rush, #45 Brian Forte, #30 John Goble
• Attendance: 19763
• Duration: 2:12