ORLANDO, Fla. — Carmelo Anthony scored 19 points, Tyson Chandler had 12 points and 12 rebounds and the Knicks defeated the Orlando Magic 96-80 on Thursday night.
J.R. Smith and Toney Douglas each added 15 points for the Knicks, who won for just the third time in their last 13 visits to Orlando. New York also hit 13 3-pointers.
Jason Richardson scored 16 points and Glen Davis 15 to lead Orlando.
The Magic’s loss came on the heels of coach Stan Van Gundy’s comments earlier in the day that included him saying he’d heard from top team officials that Dwight Howard has asked that he be fired.
Howard was held to just eight points and eight rebounds.
Orlando has now lost five straight games for the first time since 2007.
Van Gundy made his instantly viral comments hours before tip-off Thursday. They flew in direct conflict with previous denials by Howard throughout the season that he’d made any kind of request about his coach to Magic management.
Howard continued to deny it Thursday, just like he did previous reports earlier this year that his signing with Orlando long-term was contingent on both Van Gundy and general manager Otis Smith’s departure. Van Gundy’s current contract runs through the end of the season.
Still, the morning’s drama cast a definite pall over the game, which was controlled by the Knicks throughout the night.
After giving the Magic a 22-point beating seven days prior, New York again was the aggressor and took a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Playing again without injured center Amare Stoudemire, the Knicks built their lead drilling shot after shot from beyond the arc.
Chandler also rendered Howard ineffective on the defensive end with the Magic’s star being held scoreless before a dunk with 3 seconds left in the third quarter.
Orlando never really threatened in the final quarter.
The Knicks shot 48 percent (38 for 78) for the game. It marked the fifth straight game the Magic’s opponent has shot at least 47 percent. From the floor.
The Knicks shot 60 percent from the 3-point line in the first half and took a 56-44 lead into the break.
Anthony led the way with 17 first-half points, scoring mostly on a multitude of jump shots. Smith hit all three of his 3s in the half and had 13 points off the bench.
Howard managed only four rebounds for the Magic in the half.
Orlando trailed by as many as 15 points, but Richardson and Davis picked up the scoring load with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
NOTES: Magic F Hedo Turkoglu left the game with 2:14 left in the second quarter after getting inadvertently raked across the eye while trying to contest a shot by Anthony and did not return. .. Orlando F Ryan Anderson missed his second straight game with a sprained right ankle. …Stoudemire was out for his sixth consecutive game with a bulging disc in his back. …Knicks improved to 4-3 since Stoudemire and G Jeremy Lin (knee) were sidelined with injuries.
-AP