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Knicks cool off Sixers

Jan 12, 2012 - 6:10 AM New York, NY (Sports Network) - Carmelo Anthony had 27 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals, helping the New York Knicks cool off the Philadelphia 76ers, 85-79.

Amare Stoudemire added 20 points and 10 boards for the Knicks, who have won four in a row. Rookie Josh Harrellson tallied 13 points off the bench.

"Philly is one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now. For us to hold them to 79 points, that's a big deal," Anthony said.

Evan Turner and Andre Iguodala each ended with 16 points for the Sixers, who saw a six-game winning streak come to an end.

Jrue Holiday donated 13 points for Philadelphia, which was without starting center Spencer Hawes (back). Thaddeus Young and Elton Brand chipped in with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Brand also had 10 rebounds.

The Sixers completed a back-to-back-to-back stretch on Wednesday.

"We really missed a guy like Spencer in a game tonight because he's our best passing guy and we like to play out of the post and do some of that stuff. So I was really just trying to work on the fly," Philadelphia head coach Doug Collins said. "I was really proud of our guys tonight. Five games in six nights, three in a row. Battle, battle, battle."

With the score tied at 15-15 with 5:13 left in the first quarter, the Knicks scored the final 13 points of the frame. Harrellson had seven points during the run to help New York take a 28-15 lead into the second.

New York quickly built a 16-point cushion in the second, but the Sixers outscored the Knicks by a 20-17 margin in the period to cut the gap to 45-35.

Iguodala got Philadelphia going midway through the third. A slam and three- pointer cut the deficit to 54-50 with 6:47 to go.

Anthony stopped the visitor's momentum with a layup. Iguodala and Anthony were each given technical fouls after getting into it a bit after the layup. Following a Holiday miss, Anthony made a jumper to give the home team a 58-50 lead.

But the Sixers made it tight again with six straight points, as Turner's jumper made it 58-56 with 3:41 left.

The Knicks responded once again, this time with a 9-0 run to end the quarter. Harrellson's three-pointer made it a 67-56 game after three.

New York used an 11-1 run early in the fourth to extend its margin to 78-61. But the Sixers responded with 10 straight points to make it a 78-71 game with 5:51 to play.

Turner and Iguodala each made two free throws to cut the gap to four, 83-79, with 50.6 seconds remaining.

Anthony drove to the hoop at the other end and hit the bottom of the backboard with a layup. He was able to get his own rebound and call a timeout. However, Anthony found all air on his jumper as the shot clock expired.

With a chance to make things very interesting, Young missed a jumper. Anthony made two free throws at the other end to seal New York's victory.

Game Notes

The Knicks have had the upper hand in their series with the Sixers of late, winning six of the last eight meetings...Philly last played back-to-back-to- back games in 1999...The Knicks had 24 turnovers, leading to 21 Philadelphia points.