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Sixth sense: Knicks pass Philly in East – Metro US

Sixth sense: Knicks pass Philly in East

Knicks 97, Sixers 92

What went right …

1 Down goes Billups — Chauncey Billups was fighting over a screen in the third quarter when he banged knees with Elton Brand. After going down in pain momentarily, Billups stayed in the game. But shortly thereafter, the Knicks announced their point guard would be done for the night with a right quad contusion. His left quad kept him out of six games last month, but coach Mike D’Antoni said this injury is nothing worry about. Backup Toney Douglas, who scored 28 points in Tuesday’s win, hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:47 left last night.

2 Andre not so giant — Andre Iguodala has earned a well-deserved reputation as perhaps the best wing defender in the NBA, but that doesn’t mean he can deal with Carmelo Anthony. ’Melo ate up Iguodala from the opening tip last night, finishing with 31 points on 12 of 23 from the field. And when the Sixers made a furious comeback to cut a 19-point deficit to just one, it was Anthony that nailed a 3-pointer with 11.8 seconds left to seal the win.

3 Movin’ on up — The win moves the Knicks a half-game ahead of the Sixers for the sixth seed in the East and gives them much needed momentum with five straight wins. D’Antoni said it didn’t matter whether his team finished sixth or seventh in the standings, but maybe it does. The Knicks are 0-3 against No. 2 Boston, which they play next week, and 2-2 against No. 3 Miami and LeBron James.