76ers Beat Knicks 106-96 At The Garden
NEW YORK (AP) -- Elton Brand scored 20 points, Lou Williams and Jrue Holiday each had 19, and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the New York Knicks 106-96 on Sunday.
Evan Turner, the No. 2 pick and last season's college player of the year, added 14 points and 10 rebounds in his first NBA start as the 76ers snapped the Knicks' two-game winning streak. Turner started in place of Andre Iguodala, who was out with a strained right Achilles' tendon.
It was the fourth straight game with 20 or more for the resurgent Brand, his best stretch since late in the 2006-07 season, before he came to Philadelphia.
Amare Stoudemire had 21 points and 15 rebounds for the Knicks, who managed just 15 points in the fourth quarter. After consecutive wins, they heard boos as they walked off the floor at 3-3.
Stoudemire's follow shot gave the Knicks their last lead at 94-93 before the Sixers ran off nine in a row. Tony Battie made a jumper, Holiday nailed a 3-pointer, then Turner stole Stoudemire's pass for a layup and a 100-94 advantage. Holiday capped the decisive burst with two free throws.
Stoudemire's free throw got the Knicks back within six, but they couldn't grab a rebound after forcing a miss and Williams hit a pair of free throws with 40 seconds to go.
Brand made 6 of 7 shots in the first quarter, scoring 12 points and helping the 76ers take a 33-25 lead after they shot 70 percent. Philadelphia led by 10 midway through the second before the Knicks got their transition game going, roaring back with a 15-3 spurt to take a 54-52 lead on Ronny Turiaf's dunk with 1:44 remaining. New York lead 56-54 at halftime.
The Knicks built a nine-point lead in the third, but Sixers coach Doug Collins went deep down his bench, going with a frontcourt of Battie, Marreese Speights and Jodie Meeks to help them cut it to 81-80 heading to the fourth.
New York won the final three meetings last season after dropping the previous six
Notes: Iguodala had started 252 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in the league behind the Lakers' Derek Fisher, who entered Sunday at 297, and had missed just six of a possible 498 in his career. ... The Knicks came in averaging a league-leading 8.4 blocked shots per game. They ranked 29th last season and 30th two seasons ago in that category, when they had fewer as a team than Dwight Howard. ... Wilson Chandler (17.4, 3rd) and Toney Douglas (16.4, 5th) both entered in the league's top five in reserve scoring. Detroit's Ben Gordon was first (21.7), Williams was second (17.7) and former Knicks forward Al Harrington (16.6) fourth.
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