Carmelo Anthony drops 19 points, New York Knicks defeat Orlando Magic 96 – 80 – NBA Recap
On Thursday night at the Amway Center, Orlando, FL, New York Knicks defeated the Orlando Magic 96-80, giving Orlando their first 5 game losing streak since 2007. New York had also given a 22 point drubbing to Orlando just 7 days
ago and this was only the third win for the Knicks in their last 13 visits to Orlando.
Carmelo Anthony had 19 points; Tyson Chandler scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while J.R. Smith and Toney Douglas came off the bench to score 15 each for the Knicks.
Jason Richardson managed 16 points and Glen Davis scored 15 points for Orlando. Jameer Nelson and J.J. Redick also chipped in with 10 each.
Magic ‘SuperMan’ Dwight Howard was under a cloud of speculation coming into the game. His head coach Stan Van Gundy claimed that the centre had asked senior Orlando management to fire him.
Dwight was clearly unsettled because of the fiasco that unfolded not long before the game, and he had a mediocre night on the court; scoring just 8 points.
The game was decided on the basis of shooting from long range and the Knicks came out winners in that department as they connected 13 times from behind the arc. Knicks were also able to out-rebound the Magic on the night 41-35,
even though they were missing Amar’e Stoudemire, who is out with a back injury.
Magic’s only decent lead on the night came midway during the first quarter at 19-11. The Knicks however rallied back into the game with a 12-2 burst to end the quarter with a 2 point advantage 23-21.
Knicks started the second quarter on an 8-2 spurt as they snatched an 8 point advantage over their hosts. They were never really bothered from there on in the half as they shot a very good 60% from the three point line to take
a 10 point advantage into the half 56-44.
In the second half, the lead continued to pile on the Magic. Their star centre was ineffective against Chandler, who played very good defence on ‘superman’ throughout. Howard only managed to score his first points of the night
on a dunk with 3 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Knicks were ahead by 15 points by that point.
The impressive shooting continued in the fourth quarter as the Knicks never looked back to further extend their lead.
Two of those 13 long range bombs came in the closing quarter. Knicks shot 52% from behind the arc and extended their advantage to as many as 21 points before taking this one by 16 points.
This was a good win for the Knicks as they have the Milwaukee Bucks right on their tale for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
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