Knicks rout Wizards

New York, NY – J.R. Smith connected on 4-of-8 three-point attempts en route to 23 points off the bench as the New York Knicks eviscerated the Washington Wizards, 103-65, on Friday.

Carmelo Anthony, Steve Novak and Baron Davis scored 18 apiece and Tyson Chandler grabbed 15 boards in the blowout win. The Knicks collectively shot 46.4 percent, including 14-of-29 makes from beyond the arc, in their second straight win and fourth in their last five.

With the victory, New York moved into a tie with Philadelphia for seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

It was not all good news for the Knicks, however, as starting guard Iman Shumpert left in the third quarter with a sprained right ankle. He did not return.

Washington was held to under 28 percent from the floor in its weakest offensive performance since posting 64 points at Chicago in January. Jordan Crawford donated 17 points in a losing effort.

The wire-to-wire Knicks victory was ignited by a 16-6 run to open the first. Davis netted seven points and picked up two steals during the rally.

Crawford hit a pair of free throws to trim the Wizards' deficit to six with 4:56 to play in the second, but New York answered with an 18-2 run to take a 52-30 lead. It was 54-33 at intermission.

The poor shooting night by the Wizards included a full quarter without a field goal. After John Wall dunked at the 7:03 mark of the third, they did not make another from the field until a layup from Shelvin Mack with 6:43 remaining in the game.

Game Notes

The Knicks are 9-0 at Madison Square Garden under interim head coach Mike Woodson....It was the least points allowed by the Knicks since January 2008...New York has won the last nine meetings in the series...The Knicks led by as many as 43.