And you were worried about the Knicks.
There was nothing wrong with them that being at home against a team that entered with its own losing streak, a record of nine games under .500 and a schedule that had them playing the tail end of a back-to-back wouldn’t cure.
Add to that a superb burst of offensive energy and a season-high 22 points off the bench from Amar’e Stoudemire, plus 29 points from Carmelo Anthony, and the Knicks ended their season-high losing streak at four games by outlasting Philadelphia, 99-93, Sunday in Madison Square Garden. The loss extended the Sixers’ losing streak to five and dropped them 10 games under .500.
Anthony struggled with his shot (6 of 18), but made 16 of 18 free throws. The Knicks, whose last field goal was a 3-pointer by J.R. Smith (14 points) 5:38 from the end, also got 14 points from Raymond Felton, who left in the third quarter with what appeared to be a right foot injury but returned at 6:41 of the fourth. Sixer All-Star point Jrue Holiday led all scorers with 30.
Tempers flared at 7:29 of the third quarter. While positioning for a defensive rebound, Sixers center Spencer Hawes took a shot in the back of the head from Anthony. When Hawes got in Anthony’s face, Tyson Chandler gave his Philly counterpart a shove. The refs reviewed the sequence, called a Flagrant Foul One on Anthony and rapped both Chandler and Hawes with a technical foul.
After leading by a dozen at the half, the Knicks (33-20) hammered the Sixers with eight points in the first 76 seconds of the second half with Felton and Iman Shumpert burying 3-pointers. With the Knicks up 20, the big question appeared to be whether or not Kenyon Martin would make his Knick debut.
He didn’t, despite the crowd chanting for him.
Then the question became what the heck happened to the Knicks’ defense late in the third as they failed to score a field goal in the final 2:31 as Philly closed to within 76-67.
Although he stuck with his usual starting alignment, Knicks coach Mike Woodson stayed with an rotation tweak hat paid off for a second straight game. Instead of using Tyson Chandler for the entire first quarter, Woodson subbed in Stoudemire earlier than usual. So the Knicks got Stoudemire’s offense earlier and then had Chandler’s defense for the second quarter.
“I’ve been playing Tyson the whole first quarter with [Anthony] and I pulled that and went with Amar’e at [center] around the eight-minute mark so Tyson played eight straight minutes then sat,” Woodson said of his approach in Toronto Friday. “Then I brought him [Chandler] back at the top of the second quarter. It helped us in that second quarter having Tyson in there to give us a defensive boost.”
He made a similar move against the Sixers, with Chandler exiting at 5:31 of the first and Philly up four, and Stoudemire made his presence felt offensively, keying a 10-2 run with a pair of in-close scores. Combined with 10 Anthony points, five from the line, the Knicks led by two before starting the second quarter with a 17-2 landslide. That run began with a pair of Stoudemire put backs.
And then Chandler was back to start the second quarter, strengthening the Knicks defense and making life an even bigger mess for Philadelphia.
Woodson had suggested in recent days that he would shake up his starters, but he stayed small, largely to combat Philadelphia’s smaller lineup (the Sixers have yet to sniff Andrew Bynum in a game) that features Holiday and Evan Turner. In three previous games against the Knicks this season, Holiday scored 27, 17 and 35 points.
“He’s grown as a player. He’s become an All-Star this year. Really, he’s had two All-Star games against us, a 30-plus game and a high 20-something game against us,” said Woodson. “He’s playing well. He’s kind of found his niche in our league and he’s become a damn good point guard.”