Knicks-76ers Preview

Posted Jan 25 2013 3:44PM

While Carmelo Anthony has emerged as an MVP candidate, Raymond Felton is in many ways just as important to the New York Knicks.

Felton is expected to return Saturday night from a 12-game absence when the Knicks visit the Philadelphia 76ers.

New York (26-14) has split the 12 games without Felton, who has been out with a broken right pinky finger. The Knicks are 3-4 this season without Anthony, who is shooting 41.4 percent in Felton's absence after connecting at 47.3 before the point guard got hurt.

"I think when we get Raymond back, our shooters will shoot more in the flow and in the offense," center Tyson Chandler said. "Right now, 'Melo is commanding a double-team and he is kicking out, he's trying to find shooters but our spacing is not what it should be right now."

Chandler seems to be correct. New York shot 39.3 percent on 3-pointers before Felton's injury, and 35.7 since.

"Raymond's a big piece of what we do," coach Mike Woodson said.

Felton's impact was obvious in November when the Knicks shot 40.7 percent on 3s and made 24 overall in beating the 76ers (17-25) by an average of 19.0 points in two victories.

The Knicks have won three of four after Thursday's 89-86 victory at Boston. Anthony played his first game in a visiting arena since his suspension for trying to confront the Celtics' Kevin Garnett earlier this month, and the New York star came through with 28 points in a defensive battle.

"I was just locking in from a basketball standpoint, try not to even worry about the crowd, being on the road and things like that," Anthony said. "It was just a matter of doing what I had to do, doing what we had to do."

Felton could be matched up with first-time All-Star Jrue Holiday, averaging team highs of 19.0 points and 9.0 assists for the 76ers.

Holiday, however, saw his streak of scoring in double digits end at 24 games Tuesday as he scored nine in a 110-102 loss at Milwaukee. Evan Turner led three other Sixers with at least 20 points as he scored 23.

Philadelphia has dropped eight of 10 and sits in ninth place in the Eastern Conference. The Sixers are opening a season-high, eight-game homestand.

"Somehow we have to figure it out, come together and stay together as a team," forward Thaddeus Young said. "We know what the problem is. We've been in every game so far and fought back."

Holiday will be joined on the East All-Star team by Anthony and Chandler, who will make his first appearance.

Chandler figures to get tested Saturday by reserve center Spencer Hawes, who had 21 points and 12 boards against the Bucks. Hawes is shooting 58.0 percent and averaging 13.3 points and 6.1 rebounds in his last eight.

"Spencer's been great," coach Doug Collins said. "I'm very, very happy with him. He's playing not only with confidence, he's running the floor well."

New York has won six of seven overall in this series and taken five of the last six matchups in Philadelphia.

Holiday scores 35, leads 76ers over Knicks

By ROB MAADDI
Posted Jan 26 2013 10:28PM

PHILADELPHIA (AP) Jrue Holiday showed a couple of his All-Star teammates he belongs.

Holiday scored a career-high 35 points, Nick Young had 20 and the Philadelphia 76ers cruised to a 97-80 victory over the New York Knicks on Saturday night.

Holiday, who at 22 became the youngest Sixers player selected to an All-Star team this week, shot 16 of 25, and had six assists and five rebounds. He'll be playing with New York's Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler on the East squad.

"We played well against a good team," Holiday said. "We came off really aggressive offensively and played well defensively."

Anthony was impressed.

"Holiday is an All-Star for a reason. He kept it rolling," Anthony said.

Evan Turner also added 20 points for the Sixers, who led from the start and beat the Knicks for the first time in four tries and second in eight games.

The victory should make coach Doug Collins feel better. He left the bench in the third quarter and was diagnosed with a sinus infection and blocked nasal passage.

"Great game for us," assistant coach Michael Curry said. "We've been on them to play 48 minutes. We stayed with the things we wanted to do throughout the game."

Anthony needed 28 shots to get 25 points. He has 28 straight 20-point games, tied with Patrick Ewing for second-longest streak in franchise history. Richie Guerin did it 29 games in a row in 1961-62.

"We just didn't have it," Anthony said. "They played extremely well. We didn't make shots. We didn't defend. We didn't move the ball."

It was a great day for hoops at the Wells Fargo Center. In a game that tipped off eight hours earlier, Villanova knocked off No. 3 Syracuse 75-71 in overtime for its second victory over a top 5 team in five days.

The Atlantic Division-leading Knicks, who are second in the Eastern Conference, have lost five of eight.

Amare Stoudemire had 20 points for New York. Jason Kidd, Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith combined to go 0 for 17. Kidd had zero assists in 15 minutes.

The Sixers opened an eight-game homestand, their longest since 1986, with only their third win in 11 games. They're 8-19 since a 10-6 start.

Holiday took control right from the start. He scored eight points in the first three-plus minutes as the Sixers jumped out to a 12-2 lead and never let up.

Holiday hit a 3-pointer to make it 46-36 late in the second. After baskets by Raymond Felton and Chandler, Holiday scored on a driving layup and made a free throw to complete a 3-point play.

Another basket by Holiday was followed by Turner's dunk off an alley-oop pass from Young that made it 53-41 going into the half.

"It's been a while since we came out and took care of business early," Holiday said. "We made them work."

Holiday got things started in the third quarter with a jumper, and Young hit a 20-footer and a 3-pointer to give Philadelphia a 60-43 lead. A 14-4 run put the Sixers up 67-45 and the lead stretched to 29 points at one point.

The Knicks missed 12 straight shots in a span of 7:22 in the third.

Notes: Sixers guard Jason Richardson (left knee) missed his third straight game. Young started in his place. Spencer Hawes replaced Lavoy Allen in the lineup. ... A sellout crowd of 20,540 included plenty of Knicks fans. ... Sixers rookie Arnett Moultrie saw his first action since Jan. 8. ... Knicks guard Raymond Felton returned to the lineup after missing 12 games with a broken right finger. He had eight points. ... Felton hadn't played since Christmas Day against the Los Angeles Lakers. ... The Sixers are 10-4 when scoring 100 or more. ... Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins, the 2007 NL MVP, sat courtside and got a loud ovation shown on the video screen. ... Kidd remains 13 assists shy of 12,000.

Notebook: 76ers 97, Knicks 80

Andy Jasner, For NBA.com
Posted Sat Jan 26, 2013 10:53 PM - Updated Sat Jan 26, 2013 10:53 PM

THE FACTS: The Philadelphia 76ers opened a season-high, eight-game homestand with a resounding 97-80 victory over the New York Knicks Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center. Jrue Holiday, who was recently named to his first NBA All-Star Game, scored a career-high 35 points while Evan Turner and Nick Young contributed 20 points each. Thaddeus Young had 10 for the Sixers, who improved to 18-25.

Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 25 points but needed 28 shots to accomplish the feat. Amar'e Stoudemire scored 20 points and Tyson Chandler swept 10 rebounds. The Knicks fell to 26-15, and 12-9 on the road.

QUOTABLE: "I think we did better defensively. We still have a ways to go."

-- Sixers center Spencer Hawes

THE STAT: The Knicks struggled all night long from 3-point land, going 4-for-27.

TURNING POINT: The Sixers led by 26 after three quarters. After the Knicks got within 18 early in the fourth, Philadelphia responded with another spurt and pushed the advantage back to 26.

HOT: Holiday knocked down 16 of his 25 shots while Turner was 8-for-14.

NOT: Anthony was 9-for-28 while J.R. Smith (0-for-8), Iman Shumpert (0-for-6) and Jason Kidd (0-for-3) combined to shoot 0-for-17.

QUOTABLE II: "We didn't come to compete tonight and that was disappointing."

-- Knicks coach Mike Woodson

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: In addition to Holiday's career-high 35 points, he also had six assists, five rebounds and one steal. Young had 20 points in a start for the Sixers, adding four rebounds, four assists and one steal.

INSIDE THE ARENA: The sellout crowd of 20,540 was buzzing throughout for this rivalry matchup. It was loud from start to finish. Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins attended the game and received a warm ovation.

QUOTABLE III: "I know it gives me a lot of energy, especially when we start off hitting like we did."

-- Jrue Holiday on the team's fast start against the Knicks

GOOD MOVE: Turner continues to handle a bulk of the ball-handling duties for long stretches of minutes. It gives Holiday a chance to rest and freelance around the perimeter and it paid huge dividends on this night.

BAD MOVE: The Knicks could have gone to Stoudemire more often. Especially on a night when Anthony's shot was off. Stoudemire was having quite a bit of success in the low post, but the Knicks kept shooting jumpers.

ROOKIE WATCH: Knicks guard Pablo Prigioni had six points, four rebounds and two assists, while forward Chris Copeland scored six points and added two rebounds. For the Sixers, forward Arnett Moultrie was scoreless with one rebound in 4:05.

NOTABLE: Sixers coach Doug Collins left the court in the third quarter and was treated for a blocked nasal passage and sinus infection. All tests came back negative and he's listed as day-to-day. ... Knicks point guard Raymond Felton returned to the starting lineup after missing the past 12 games with a fractured right fifth finger. ... The Sixers played without guard Jason Richardson for the third straight game because of left knee synovitis. ... Hawes started his first game of the season. ...The Sixers won despite being outrebounded 47-34. They are now 1-7 this season when being outrebounded by 10 or more. ... The Knicks' 80 points were their second-lowest total of the season -- 76 at Indiana on Jan. 10. They have scored below 90 in each of the past three games. ... The Sixers are 6-0 when shooting 50 percent or better and 9-0 when holding the opposition to below 40 percent shooting. ... Kidd didn't register an assist in 14:57. ... The Knicks missed 12 consecutive field goals from 11:21 to 3:59 of the third quarter. ... Collins and Royal Ivey each received a technical foul. So did Chandler. ... Holiday's 35 points is the most by a Sixer since Willie Green had 37 on April 18, 2007 at Toronto. Over the past six games, Holiday is averaging 25.2 points on 50.4 percent shooting.

UP NEXT: For the Knicks, Sunday vs. Atlanta, Wednesday vs. Orlando, Friday vs. Milwaukee. For the Sixers, Monday vs. Memphis, Wednesday vs. Washington, Friday vs. Sacramento.

• Knicks: Camby, Wallace
• 76ers: Bynum

• Knicks: Chandler
• 76ers: Collins, Ivey

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
• Officials: #14 Ed Malloy, #42 Eric Lewis, #63 Derek Richardson
• Attendance: 20540
• Duration: 2:12