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Sixers rally to edge Knicks

Feb 5, 2011 - 5:36 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Elton Brand poured in a season-high 33 points and pulled down 17 rebounds, as the Philadelphia 76ers used a huge fourth quarter to take down the New York Knicks, 100-98, in the opener of a home-and-home weekend set.

Andre Iguodala added 18 points and a career-high 16 assists for the Sixers, who have won three in a row and six of seven overall. Jodie Meeks donated 14 points.

Coming off his first career triple-double on Wednesday, Jrue Holiday tallied six points for Philadelphia, which outscored New York by a 27-16 margin in the fourth quarter.

"That was an amazing game," Sixers head coach Doug Collins said. "It was like four different games. Ours was the first quarter, theirs was the second and third, and then we won the fourth. I told our guys in the fourth quarter that is the toughest we have been all season long."

Raymond Felton finished with 26 points and nine assists for the Knicks, who have dropped three of four. Amare Stoudemire added 21 points and seven boards while Danilo Gallinari ended with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Wilson Chandler returned to the lineup after missing the previous three games with a sore left calf and recorded three points off the bench.

New York will host Philadelphia at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

Trailing by nine, 82-73, Philadelphia started the fourth on an impressive 23-4 run.

A Lou Williams steal and slam gave the Sixers an 87-86 lead with 6:43 to play. Iguodala recorded a pair of blocks before draining a three-pointer to give the home team a four-point margin with 5:02 to go.

Stoudemire then missed a jumper, leading to Brand's jumper for a 92-86 lead. The Knicks continued to fall apart when Stoudemire was called for a charge. Iguodala made a jumper this time around to give Philly an eight-point cushion.

A Chandler charge preceded a run-capping jumper from Brand to make it 96-86 with 3:18 remaining.

Back-to-back makes from Felton stopped the bleeding, and Gallinari made a three-pointer with 1:17 left to cut the gap to 100-95. Lou Williams was off the mark with a three-pointer at the opposite end.

Shawne Williams and Felton each missed shots from beyond the arc before the former connected from the corner to make it 100-98 with 35.8 ticks to play.

Lou Williams missed a short jumper at the other end, leaving the Knicks with a chance to tie or win the game. But Shawne Williams missed a contested four-foot jumper as time expired.

"We had a chance to win, we should have played with more energy," Stoudemire said. "Once we came back and took the lead, we let down. We've done that before and we've got to correct it."

The Sixers jumped out to an early lead thanks to Brand and Iguodala. The latter dished out nine assists over the first 12 minutes, while Brand scored seven of his 19 points over the final minutes to give Philly a 35-21 lead.

The second quarter belonged to the Knicks, who started the period on a 19-4 run. Timofey Mozgov tallied seven points during the stretch, including a slam with 5:25 remaining for a 40-39 edge.

New York outscored the Sixers, 31-16, in the second stanza to take a 52-51 lead into the locker room.

With the score tied at 60 with 7:10 left, the Knicks ripped off six straight points. Later in the quarter, Felton made a pair of three-pointers around a Lou Williams jumper to give New York an 80-71 margin with 1:31 to go. The score was 82-73 after three periods of action.

Game Notes

The Sixers lead the season-series with the Knicks, 2-0...New York has dropped nine of 12 overall...The 76ers shot 47 percent from the field, while the Knicks made 40.2 percent of their shots...Mozgov had nine points and seven boards...Iguodala is just the third NBA player this season to record 15 assists in a game without a turnover, joining Boston's Rajon Rondo and Utah's Deron Williams and just the 12th to do it, dating back to the 2000-01 campaign. It was the most assists without a turnover by a Sixer since 1986-87.