Knicks finally win two straight, top struggling Sixers

Basketball Betting Lines

03/15/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Danilo Gallinari finished with 21 points to lead the New York Knicks to a 94-84 victory over the struggling Philadelphia 76ers.

Rookie Toney Douglas added 20 points and seven assists for the Knicks, who were coming off Saturday's victory at Dallas that snapped the Mavericks' 13- game winning streak. New York hadn't won consecutive games since a three-game streak from January 1-7.

Tracy McGrady hit 4-of-5 from three-point range on his way to 14 points, while David Lee added 16 rebounds and eight points. Wilson Chandler had 12 points and 11 boards in the victory.

Rookie Jrue Holiday had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists to pace the Sixers, who have lost five in a row and 10 of their last 11. Andre Iguodala finished with 14 points and 17 rebounds, while Samuel Dalembert recorded 11 points and 18 boards for Philadelphia, which held a 54-38 rebounding advantage and collected 21 on the offensive end.

However, the Sixers had just 20 second-chance points as they shot 38.4 percent. Iguodala was a main factor in that percentage, as he missed all seven of his three-point tries and was 5-of-22 overall.

Each team led in the first quarter, which Chandler closed with a layup for a 26-25 Knicks edge. The Sixers, however, surged in the second quarter behind a 10-point effort from reserve Willie Green and nine points from Holiday.

Holiday scored seven in a row early in the frame to put Philadelphia ahead 35-30, and Green eventually ended the first half with a layup to put the Sixers up 55-44 at the break.

Philadelphia was still ahead by nine with five minutes left in the third quarter, but the Knicks ended the frame on a 17-4 run. Lee closed it with a layup as New York went into the fourth quarter with a 73-69 advantage.

The Knicks couldn't pull away, however, and Holiday's layup with 3:47 left had the Sixers within 85-82. But Douglas countered with a jumper, and after a series of misses, Gallinari sank two from the line with 2:03 to play for an 89-82 advantage. An Iguodala miss led to a Gallinari three, and the Knicks held on from there.

Game Notes

The Sixers shot 27.3 percent in the second half. They scored fewer points in the final two quarters (29) than they did in the second quarter alone (30)...New York improved to 2-2 on its five-game road trip, which ends Wednesday at Boston. The Knicks are 10-22 on the road this season...The Sixers fell to 10-22 at home...Philadelphia is 3-14 when scoring below 90 points this season...Green finished with 17 points...Al Harrington had 15 points for the Knicks, who made 11-of-25 from beyond the arc.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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