Korver shines as Sixers down Knicks

By John McMullen

Kyle Korver came off the bench to bury 6- of-7 shots from the three-point line and score a career-high 31 points as Philadelphia dominated New York, 104-84, at the Wachovia Center.

Andre Miller added 19 points and five assists for the Sixers, who snapped a three-game skid. Joe Smith chipped in with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Andre Iguodala finished with 10 points and nine assists.

"It's about getting a rhythm," Korver said of his big night. "If you have fresh legs, that's always a bonus. Unfortunately, in an NBA season with 82 games, you don't always feel that way. You have to try to find ways to get in a rhythm."

Eddy Curry was 10-of-12 from the floor and tallied 22 points for the Knicks, who were coming off a 100-94 win over Orlando on Tuesday. Jamal Crawford netted 14 points and rookie Renaldo Balkman had 13 points and seven boards.

"It's very disappointing," Curry said of the loss. "We gave up a lot of second-chance shots and they capitalized on them, it seemed like all of them."

The Sixers entered the final quarter with a seven-point lead and slowly started to put things away. Korver drained a three to make it 86-74 with 6:28 left.

Philadelphia then put things away with a quick 6-0 run late. Smith converted a conventional three-point play before Korver drained his sixth three of the contest to make it 97-78 with under three minutes to go.

The Sixers coasted to the finish line from there.

The Knicks took a slim 22-18 advantage after the opening 12 minutes but the Sixers' bench took over the contest in the second quarter.

The sharp-shooting Korver led the way with 14 points in the frame as Philadelphia dominated, outscoring the Knicks by 19 in the stanza en route to taking a comfortable 53-38 cushion at intermission.

The Sixers continued to pull away early in the third quarter. Miller connected on consecutive jumpers to give Philadelphia its first 20-point advantage, 60-40, with a little over nine minutes to go in the frame.

The Knicks responded however, and got back into things with a 12-2 spurt. A rare four-point play by Crawford capped the run and brought the Knicks within 10, 68-58, with 3:59 remaining in the third quarter.

New York continued to chip away from there and trailed by just seven, 74-67, entering the final frame.