SIXERS NEWS

The Sixers completed the 2nd half of a home and home series with Knicks this afternoon in the Garden. After toughing out a win in the first half at the Wells Fargo center they were going to have come out with a different type of energy if they wanted sweep the series. Unfortunately they just never quite found the energy they needed in this one, at least not on defense anyway. Amare Stoudamire was just unstoppable with 41 points on 17 of 21 shooting and the Sixers probably would have been best served just to let him do his thing and guard the perimeter. Instead they tried to cool him down and guard the perimeter at the same time and it didn't work. All too often Knicks were left open from beyond while Amare was doubled and tripled and they took full advantage, especially the rookie Landry Fields, who nailed 5 of 7 from beyond to quell all Sixer comeback attempts.

For their part the Sixers did plenty of scoring as well, with Elton Brand's 28 and 5 rebounds leading the way. Andre Iguodala also chipped in with 14, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds, while Thad Young 16 and Lou Williams had 19, both off the bench. Ultimately though, it doesn't matter how many points you score if you can't stop the other guy. Early on the Sixers were at least able to keep things tight. New York rode Amare to a 7 point lead after a quarter of play but the Sixers managed a few defensive stops in the 2nd quarter, and rallied back to within 4 at the half. In the 3rd quarter New York again rode Amare and now Landry to an extended lead, this time by as many as 11, but it wasn't enough to shake the Sixers. Again the Sixers figured out a way to turn it up a notch on defense and it was to close the gap all the way to 3 at one point before settling for a 6 point deficit heading into the 4th quarter. This time Amare and Landry were too much, as despite the Sixer's best efforts the Knicks finally pulled away for good for the 117-103 win.