Magic-Knicks Preview

Posted Jan 29 2013 4:43PM

The New York Knicks have needed strong finishes to handle the Orlando Magic this season.

The Knicks hope to make it easier on themselves Wednesday night at home as they look for a fifth straight victory over a Magic team that has lost six in a row and 17 of 19.

Although New York (27-15) is by far the better team, it used big fourth quarters to earn two 2012-13 wins over Orlando. The Knicks outscored the Magic (14-30) by nine in the fourth in a 99-89 victory Nov. 13 and used a 33-17 final period to win 114-106 on Jan. 5 - both in Orlando.

The Magic combined to shoot 32.4 percent in those fourth quarters with six assists and eight turnovers.

Knicks coach Mike Woodson would like to see some defensive improvement from his team. New York allowed Philadelphia to shoot 50.7 percent in a 97-80 road loss Saturday before a 106-104 home win the next night despite Atlanta's 60.0 field-goal percentage - the highest by a Knicks opponent all season.

"We gotta clean up our high pick-and-roll defense and get back to our coverages that we were doing earlier in the year," Woodson said. "It's just guys being up and guys committed on the ball, not begging for help. That's the name of the game. You've got to take pride in guarding your man who has the ball."

The Knicks were bailed out Sunday by another brilliant performance by Carmelo Anthony, who scored 42 and tied a franchise record with nine 3-pointers.

"It was just a matter of me just taking them shots and making them," said Anthony, who is shooting a career-high 42.0 percent on 3-pointers. "I know I'm capable of making them, but when I'm making them from the outside, from the perimeter, it opens up the game that much more, for myself, for my teammates, and that's what happened tonight."

Anthony can break Richie Guerin's franchise record of 29 straight 20-point games Wednesday. The Knicks star has totaled 65 points against the Magic this season.

Point guard Raymond Felton finished with 12 points and 10 assists against the Hawks after he had eight and three the night before in his first game since Dec. 25 after being out with a broken right pinky finger.

"When you're out for five weeks, it's kind of tough," Felton said. "You gotta get back into your rhythm, get back into the rhythm with your teammates. It takes a couple games but hopefully that's gone now."

Orlando opened a five-game trip with Monday's 97-77 defeat at Brooklyn. The backcourt of Jameer Nelson and J.J. Redick combined for 17 assists, but scored 14 points on 5-of-25 shooting.

"It's tough to continue to do the same task over and over again, and that's what we're asking of our guys. That's what we have to do in order for us to be good as a basketball team," coach Jacque Vaughn said.

Nelson and Felton will meet for the first time this season since one was out in each of the first two matchups.

Orlando swingman Arron Afflalo is day to day with a strained left calf that kept him out against the Nets.

Anthony set team record with 30th 20-point game

By TOM CANAVAN
Posted Jan 31 2013 1:10AM

NEW YORK (AP) The New York Knicks finally got a glimpse of what the front line of Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler can do hitting on all cylinders, and it was pretty impressive.

Anthony scored 20 points to set a team-record with his 30th straight 20-point game, and Chandler and Stoudemire combined for 35 points on 17 of 18 shooting from the field in leading the Knicks to a 113-97 victory over the reeling Orlando Magic on Wednesday night.

"When I first got here I always said it was going to take maybe three years," Anthony said of meshing with his fellow bigs who all came to New York between June 30, 2010 and Dec. 9, 2011. "We had two half seasons to make something happen overnight. Now this season we can go through ups and downs and try to make something happen. When the three of us are on the court, we are making things happen offensively and defensively."

The trio was at their best in the third quarter in sending Orlando to its seventh straight loss and 18th in 20 games. They combined for 18 of New York's 28 points and keyed a late run that gave New York the lead for good.

"The third quarter was great," said Stoudemire, who hit all seven of his shots. "We played great defensively. We were able to get a good lead and capitalize. Anytime guys are double-teamming Carmelo, it gives us a chance to open a lead."

Chandler had one of his best games in week. The All-Star center finished with 21 points on 10 of 11 shooting, along with seven rebounds and a season-high five assists.

"I had a couple of rough games and I felt like I really wanted to get into the offense early," Chandler said. "So I came out and made it a point to be more aggressive."

Knicks coach Mike Woodson was thrilled with his big men.

"That's the beauty of having two big guys play and Melo plays big as well," Woodson said after his team beat the Magic for the third time in as many games this season. "It's kind of nice to have three big guys like that up front playing."

JJ Redick scored 29 points and fellow guard Jameer Nelson added 21 for Orlando, but they both ran out of gas in the second half when the Knicks took control, especially on the inside. Nikola Vucevic was the only other player in double figures for the short-handed Magic with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Orlando came into the game without leading scorer Aaron Afflalo and it lost another starter a little more than four minutes into the game when power forward Glen Davis broke his left foot.

"I just wished him the best," Nelson said. "I gave him a hug. There is nothing you can say to a guy other than: `I'm here for you.' I hope everything goes well for him. I feel bad for him."

Raymond Felton added 15 points and J.R. Smith and Pablo Prigioni had 11 for New York, which shot a season-high 57.3 percent from the field.

The Knicks took advantage of Davis' absence as Chandler and Stoudemire had a free run on the inside. New York dominated in the paint, outscoring Orlando 54-42, on a night that Anthony broke Richie Guerin's team mark.

"Any record that you have a chance to get or break or tie, that is the fun part," said Anthony, who was 8 of 17 from the field. "Tonight was my chance to break the record. It makes it fun out there when you are looking forward to something. Records are made to be broken."

Guerin, who is 80 and retired in Florida, congratulated Anthony on the MSG Network's postgame show.

"...in today's day and age, with three point shot, a lot of records are meant to be broken. It couldn't happen to a better guy," Guerin said.

The Knicks big run came in the third quarter right after Redick hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 62 with 7:20 to go.

Chandler, who had been in double figures only once in his last seven games, tipped in a rebound and scored on an alley-oop from Smith and Stoudemire tallied on a driving layup for a 68-62 lead.

The Magic twice cut the deficit to four points, but Stoudemire slammed home a dunk and Prigioni nailed a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to 75-68 and Orlando never threatened again.

Nelson and Redick kept the Magic in the game in the first half, combining for 36 points on 14 of 20 shooting from the field. Redick made his first seven shots, including three from long range, and didn't miss until late in the half.

NOTES: Guerin had the Knicks old record of 29 straight 20-point games, set in 1961-62. ...This is the second game on a four-game road trip for Orlando, which has games left at Boston and Milwaukee. ...New York is 16-6 at home this season. ...The Knicks played without backup point guard Jason Kidd, who was out with a sore lower back. ...Afflalo, who was averaging 16.7 points, missed his second straight with a strained left calf.

Notebook: Knicks 113, Magic 97

Adam Zagoria, for NBA.com
Posted Wed Jan 30, 2013 10:28 PM - Updated Wed Jan 30, 2013 10:28 PM

THE FACTS: Carmelo Anthony set a franchise record with his 30th straight 20-point game by going for exactly 20 points along with seven rebounds and five assists as the Knicks beat the Orlando Magic, 113-97, at Madison Square Garden.

Anthony broke Richie Guerin's previous record of 29 straight 20-point games.

Tyson Chandler led New York with 21 points and seven rebounds, Raymond Felton added 15 points, nine assists and zero turnovers and Amar'e Stoudemire tallied 14 points for the Atlantic Division-leading Knicks (28-15), who are now 16-6 at home.

J.R. Smith and Pablo Prigioni had 11 points apiece for the Knicks, who won their second straight and improved to 3-0 against Orlando.

Orlando (14-31) lost its seventh straight and fell to 2-18 in its last 20 games.

J.J. Redick led the Magic with 29 points, two shy of his career-high, and Jameer Nelson tallied 21. Nikola Vucevic added 12 points and 11 boards.

QUOTABLE: "I mean first of all I gotta take my hat off to my teammates for putting me in a position to be able to do this. The ball been finding me and we been playing well. I definitely gotta give this to my teammates."
-- Anthony in his on-court interview.

THE STAT: The Knicks shot 14-of-34 from deep, led by Felton and Prigioni, who were each 3-of-6. The Magic went 7-of-26 from beyond the arc, with Nelson going 2-of-7 and Hedo Turkoglu going 0-of-4 en route to two points.

TURNING POINT: After allowing Redick and Nelson to combine for 26 points in the first quarter and 36 in the first half, the Knicks tightened up their defense somewhat and allowed them just nine points in the third. That helped the Knicks turn a 51-all halftime tie into a 78-73 lead after three.

QUOTABLE II: "We just had to make some adjustments...We made our adjustments and we turned the game around."
-- Anthony on the second half, when the Knicks outscored the Magic, 62-46.

WHO'S HOT: Chandler went 10-of-11 from the field and was +17, while Stoudemire was 7-of-7 for a +3.

WHO'S NOT: The Magic starting forward tandem of Glen Davis and Moe Harkless combined for eight points and three rebounds.

QUOTABLE III: "Melo is an MVP candidate. I don't care how you slice it."
-- Knicks coach Mike Woodson

NOTABLE: Jason Kidd (sore lower back) sat for the Knicks after playing just five minutes ? and none in the second half ? in Sunday's win over Atlanta."Just getting some treatment, a little sore today," Woodson said. "We'll see how he feels [Thursday] and he'll probably play Friday."

NOTABLE II: In Kidd's absence, Prigioni, the 35-year-old rookie, played very well for the Knicks as the backup point guard, going for 11 points and two assists.

QUOTABLE IV: "Pablo's not gonna play 30 minutes a game, but the minutes that he plays I expect him to defend."
-- Woodson

INSIDE THE ARENA: Howard Stern sat courtside.

UP NEXT: For the Knicks, Friday vs. Milwaukee, Saturday vs. Sacramento, Monday vs. Detroit. For the Magic, Friday at Boston, Saturday at Milwaukee, Monday at Philadelphia.

• Magic: Afflalo, Harrington
• Knicks: Camby, Wallace

• Magic: --
• Knicks: Felton

• Lead Changes: 11
• Times Tied: 13

• Arena: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
• Officials: #10 Ron Garretson, #56 Mark Ayotte, #6 Tony Brown
• Attendance: 19033
• Duration: 2:05