Lou Williams scored 28 points on Sunday to lead Philadelphia to a 106-94 victory over the lackluster New York Knicks, whose dull display sparked the ire of the fans at Madison Square Garden.
After the sensational emergence of point guard Jeremy Lin energized the Knicks and their tough-to-please supporters last month, New York are again floundering. Their loss to the Sixers was their fifth straight defeat.
The Knicks, trailing just 51-49 at halftime, gave up a whopping 38 points in the third quarter — which Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni acknowledged “doomed us.”
“We hit a snag and we seemed to wither, and for whatever reason we haven’t overcome any kind of obstacles,” D’Antoni said. “We were down two and the world was caving in.”
Knicks star Carmelo Anthony started the game strong with 12 first-quarter points. He finished with 22, but ended the game on the bench with Amare Stoudemire as Lin, Tyson Chandler and Landry Fields completed the contest with reserves Steve Novak and J.R. Smith.
Lin finished with 14 points for the Knicks, but shot just five-of-18 from the floor and his seven assists were countered by six turnovers.
“Third quarter, I guess, they hit a lot of shots, we were a step slow on defense and I didn’t take care of the ball,” Lin said. “So they get easy run-outs in transition and then we didn’t box out the way we should have, so more easy baskets and they get into a flow, they get into a rhythm.”
Philadelphia won their third straight. They improved to 25-17 and top the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division.
LAKERS 97, CELTICS 94
In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored 10 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and hit a go-ahead jump shot with 41.7 seconds to play to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to victory over the Boston Celtics.
Andrew Bynum had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who rallied from a five-point deficit in the final 2 minutes, 30 seconds. The All-Star center hit a short hook shot over Kevin Garnett with 15.5 seconds left and Boston could not get a good look at a tying three-pointer.
Rajon Rondo had 24 points and 10 assists for the Celtics, who opened an eight-game road trip by blowing a late lead.
On Boston’s final possession, Ray Allen failed to get free for a three-pointer, before Rondo badly missed a tying attempt.
Sunday’s other results:
‧ Cavaliers 118, Rockets 107
‧ Bucks 105, Raptor 99
‧ Magic 107, Pacers 94
‧ Grizzlies 94, Nuggets 91
‧ Warriors 97, Clippers 93
‧ Hawks 106, Kings 99
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