Knicks come up short, 100-98
The New York Knicks' Amar'e Stoudemire, left, battles Tony Battie of the Philadelphia 76ers for a loose ball in first quarter at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Feb. 4, 2011) Credit: MCT
PHILADELPHIA - Someday the snow will melt and there will be NBA playoff games, and they likely will feel something like the 76ers' volatile 100-98 victory over the Knicks Friday night.
There was nothing subtle about the mercurial duel, played out before a crowd of 18,823 boisterous fans. Many of them sided with the Knicks, who - despite the high-decibel atmosphere - no doubt could hear the 76ers' footsteps getting louder in the teams' pursuit of a playoff spot.
Once feeling fairly comfortable in sixth place in the chase for the Eastern Conference's eight postseason spots, the Knicks (25-24) suddenly have lost 10 of their last 14 games overall and six straight on the road. Philadelphia (23-26) has won six of its last seven. The teams will meet again Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
"We had a chance to win; we didn't play with enough energy," said Amar'e Stoudemire (21 points). "So no excuses. We didn't play like it was a very important game for us, and it turned around and bit us in the back."
The game's wild mood swings, with Philadelphia up by 14 at the end of one quarter and the Knicks ahead by nine after three, eventually converged to leave the Knicks behind by two and in possession of the ball with eight seconds left.
Danilo Gallinari found Shawne Williams - whose three-point basket with 35 seconds to go had pulled the Knicks within 100-98 - in the left corner. Williams hesitated, then drove the baseline and flipped a lefthanded floater that barely reached the rim as time ran out.
"Let's see, what did go through my head?" he said. "You know, penetrate. I felt I had enough room to shoot. I don't know what I was thinking. It was a dumb, dumb mental mistake. I just made one [three-pointer] to get it to two, so it should've been a no-brainer to shoot the shot."
Mike D'Antoni insisted there was "no one to blame. You're talking about split-seconds. Both teams played with playoff intensity. It was a good game. It always hurts to lose, but I did think we played well. We had a chance to win and didn't do it."
Trailing 82-73 after three quarters, the 76ers outscored the Knicks 23-4 to go up 96-86 with 3:18 left. They went ahead 100-92 with 1:22 to play before three-pointers by Gallinari and Williams made it a two-point game.
The Knicks clearly paid the price for what amounted to a brick-and-troll offense through most of the first quarter and the last half of the fourth. Buoyed by Gallinari's repeated trips to the free-throw line in the second quarter - he eventually made all nine of his free throws and finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds - and Raymond Felton's surge in the third period, when he scored 15 of his 26 points, the Knicks appeared capable of salvaging the game.
But Elton Brand was unstoppable in the first quarter (19 points) and major trouble in the fourth, finishing with a season-high 33 points along with 16 rebounds. Andre Iguodala added 18 points and 16 assists.
Philadelphia turned the momentum in its favor through the final seven minutes just as the Knicks had taken control through the middle of the contest, with a quickening metabolism in repeated rushes down the court.
"They're just athletic as heck," D'Antoni said. "That's what they do."
Sixth place slipping away?
"I don't care. Sixth or eighth, first," D'Antoni said. "I just want to get in the playoffs."
