The unbeaten New York Knicks make a quick turnaround this evening in the back end of a home-and-home series against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center.
The Knicks disposed of the Atlantic Division-rival Sixers with Sunday afternoon's 100-84 victory at Madison Square Garden.
Carmelo Anthony scored 30 points in a season-opening win over the Miami Heat and netted 27 against the Sixers. J.R. Smith had 20 points and nine rebounds off the bench, while Jason Kidd and Raymond Felton had 12 and 11 points, respectively, for New York, which is off to its best start since winning three in a row to begin the 1999-00 season.
"Not a lot of people are talking about the Knicks being one of those elite teams in the NBA, but I think before it's over with they will be," Felton said.
New York scored 20 points off 18 Philadelphia turnovers and made 50.6 percent of its shots. It made just 11-of-27 3-pointers after sinking 19-of-36 attempts from beyond the arc versus Miami.
The Knicks will head back to the Big Apple following tonight's game and are slated to host Dallas on Friday. New York center Marcus Camby is still bothered by a calf injury. A timetable for his return is unknown.
Philadelphia got its much-anticipated season off to a good start with a home win over the Denver Nuggets, but were quickly disposed of by the Knicks yesterday afternoon.
The Sixers' only lead was 2-0 and they made 43 percent of their shots. Jrue Holiday, fresh off a new contract extension, scored a team-best 27 points and Evan Turner notched 11 and 11 rebounds, including 10 on defense. Thaddeus Young had 16 points and Dorell Wright 11 in defeat.
"I think the layoff hurt us a little bit. We didn't adjust to the speed of the game or the physicality of the game early," Sixers coach Doug Collins said.
Sixers new guard Jason Richardson sprained his left ankle early in the first quarter and did not return. He is day-to-day. Philadelphia is still without big man Andrew Bynum, who is nursing sore knees and could return soon.
The 76ers will hit the road for three games against New Orleans, Boston and Toronto after tonight's bout with New York.
Philadelphia lost two of three meetings with New York last season and is only 3-8 in the previous 11 matchups in this series. Anthony averaged 19.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists against the 76ers last season.(
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