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'Melo, Knicks finish Sunshine State tour in Orlando

Mar 1, 2011 - 3:57 PM (Sports Network) - A pair of Eastern Conference contenders square off tonight in central Florida, where the New York Knicks will close out their tour through the Sunshine State against the Orlando Magic at Amway Center.

The Knicks have won four of their last five games and made a statement by handing the Miami Heat a 91-86 loss on Sunday in South Beach. Newcomer Carmelo Anthony led the charge with 29 points and nine rebounds, and is averaging 27.6 points in three games with his new team.

New York's other superstar, Amare Stoudemire, blocked LeBron James' potential go-ahead layup with 7.9 seconds left, and totaled 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who are seeded sixth in the East and surpassed last season's win total of 29.

"If you want to win, this is how we are going to do it," said Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni. "Now it's up to us to do it every night."

D'Antoni's club is 14-15 away from Madison Square Garden this season and got 16 points from Chauncey Billups. Billups was acquired from Denver in the blockbuster Anthony deal.

The 14 road wins are the most by New York since going 14-27 away from MSG in the 2006-07 campaign. The last time the Knicks won at least 15 games as the visitor was in 2003-04, when they compiled a 16-25 road record.

New York is second in the NBA in scoring, averaging 106.2 points through 57 games. Denver is first with 107.5 ppg, but that was mainly because of Anthony.

Orlando, meanwhile, will put the finishing touches on a seven-game homestand tonight and will try not to look ahead for Thursday's showdown in Miami.

The Magic are 4-2 on the residency and handed the Charlotte Bobcats a 100-86 defeat on Sunday. Dwight Howard recorded his 18th consecutive double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, for Orlando, which has won six of eight overall and improved to 23-9 at home.

"I thought we played a little bit better tonight," said Howard, who has 48 double-doubles on the season. "But we still have to play hard for 48 minutes, make all the right rotations, do everything the right way. We did that for a while tonight but we have to continue to do it against every team."

Brandon Bass and Gilbert Arenas scored 17 and 16 points, respectively, in a winning effort. Orlando is currently fourth in the Eastern Conference. Jameer Nelson contributed 13 points and seven assists.

Orlando beat the Knicks, 112-103, on Dec. 30 this season at Amway Center and has won four straight and 15 of the previous 20 meetings between the teams. New York has dropped three in a row and nine of 11 trips to the Magic Kingdom.