No excuses.
Coming into the tail end of a back-to-back-to-back stretch and their fifth game in six days, the Philadelphia 76ers (7-3) fell to the New York Knicks (6-4) 85-79 in a sloppy game riddled with bad turnovers and shooting by both teams. Sixers Coach Doug Collins refused to put any blame on the brutal schedule.
“[Those are] excuses. We don’t make excuses,” said Collins. “You start talking about tired legs and all that stuff… it’s an excuse. We don’t do that.”
The Sixers had 14 turnovers and shot 39.5 percent from the field and the Knicks didn’t do much better, hitting 41.6 percent of their shots while turning the ball over 21 times.
Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 27 points and 9 rebounds, while Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner led the Sixers with 16 points. Amare Stoudemire and Elton Brand each recorded double-doubles, with Stoudemire and Brand scoring 20 and 11 points respectively, and each grabbing 10 rebounds. Sixers Center Spencer Hawes missed the game with a strained back and Tony Battie started in his place.
The Knicks went up 17 with 9:02 left in the fourth quarter on a Stoudemire dunk, but Philadelphia didn’t let up. They fought to get within four points with 50 seconds to go, fueled by a 10-0 run led by forward Thaddeus Young who scored 8 of his 12 points during the stretch. Young missed a crucial jumper with 16 seconds left that would have made it a two point game, but Collins was quick to defend him.
“What [Thad] does defensively with his speed and quickness and [the] things he does for us, you can’t put a price on,” he claimed. “He probably has grown and matured as a leader on this team as much as any of our guys.”
The win is New York’s fourth straight, while the loss ends the Sixers 6-game win streak in which they outscored their opponents by over 21 points a game. They hope to get back to their newfound winning ways Friday when they host the Wizards in the start of the team’s first home-and-home of the season.
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