Wednesday, February 23, 2011
www.philly.com
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
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76ers stay the course after Knicks’ big deal “I hope they get off to a rocky start,” Sixers guard Lou Williams said of Carmelo and Co. By Kate Fagan
Danilo Gallinari, Timofey INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Mozgov, Wilson Chandler, and The team that holds the Raymond Felton, three of playoff spot above the 76ers, whom started for coach Mike the New York Knicks, looks a D’Antoni’s team. New York is little different today than it behind the Orlando Magic did early this week. (36-21) and just above the SixConsidering that the sixth ers in the playoff race. playoff spot is, realisAs the NBA season tically, the only high- Wizards resumes after the aller playoff position star break, the Sixers within the Sixers’ at 76ers and the Knicks will reach, it matters that Wednesday likely be competing the Knicks improved, at 7 p.m. for the Eastern Conferat least on paper, TV: CSN ence’s sixth playoff with the addition of spot. NBA superstar Carmelo An“You can’t really discount the thony and former NBA Finals caliber of players they got out MVP Chauncey Billups. of the deal,” Sixers guard Lou “They’ve added talent to their Williams said. “So, on paper, team,” Sixers coach Doug Col- it’s going to be difficult. But lins said after Tuesday’s prac- who knows what happens once tice at the Philadelphia College they put that team together? of Osteopathic Medicine. Hopefully, in my eyes, I hope On Monday night, the Den- they get off to a rocky start. We ver Nuggets and Knicks com- can continue to roll and we’ll pleted a blockbuster trade in- see what happens.” cluding nine players, spanning The Sixers (27-29) begin what felt like months of negotia- their post-break schedule on tions. The Knicks surrendered Wednesday night at the Wells
Fargo Center against the Washington Wizards. The Knicks (28-26) begin theirs on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden against the Milwaukee Bucks, and Anthony is expected to play. According to the New York Daily News, prices for Wednesday night’s Knicks tickets were selling for as much as 600 percent of face value, topping even singer Lady Gaga in demand. The Daily News reported that courtside seats were on sale for as much as $13,000. Hype will be much more subdued at the Wells Fargo Center, where you can buy a ticket for $12 (according to www.stubhub.com), but where the goal will be the same: win. “They’re a little bit ahead of us right now,” Collins said of the Knicks. “But I just think our young core is just getting better and better and better. We’re continuing to look up, trying not to look back. We’ll see how it plays out in the last 26 games.”
One chippy drill. At the end of
Tuesday’s practice, the Sixers played a defensive drill of four on four. Teams were broken down into white, black, and red. The goal was to be on defense. If your team scored, you moved to defense, which is where you wanted to remain and where you could earn points for each stop. Teams rotated in on offense. “It really brings out the competitive juices in our guys,” Collins said. “We don’t call fouls,” Williams explained. “That’s it. Don’t call fouls and get a little chippy, and I love it when it’s like that. It’s right up my alley.” Contact staff writer Kate Fagan at kfagan@phillynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/DeepSixer3, and read her blog, Deep Sixer, on Philly.com.
Read The Inquirer’s 76ers blog, “Deep Sixer,” by Kate Fagan at http://go.philly.com/dsix
Knicks get just what they wanted
They landed superstar Carmelo Anthony in a deal with Denver and Minnesota. ASSOCIATED PRESS
GREENBURGH, N.Y. — The New York Knicks were searching for a second superstar when Carmelo Anthony became available. The price was high, but they are certain he is worth it. “When you go out hunting, would you rather have a bigger gun or a little gun?” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We got a bigger gun.” The Knicks acquired Anthony from Denver in a threeteam trade announced Tuesday night. They also got guards Chauncey Billups and Anthony Carter, and forwards Renaldo Balkman and Shelden Williams in the deal that includes the Minnesota Timberwolves. New York dealt forwards Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari, guard Raymond Felton, and center Timofey Mozgov to the Nuggets. The Knicks shipped centers Eddy Curry and Anthony Randolph to Minnesota for forward Corey Brewer. Denver acquired center Kosta Koufos from Minnesota, plus New York’s first-round draft pick in 2014, second-round picks in 2012 and 2013, and cash. The Timberwolves also will get about $3 million. Anthony could make his
MEGHAN SINCLAIR / Associated Press
Late-night host Conan O’Brien gives Carmelo Anthony a Nets, Nuggets, and Knicks jersey. New York won the sweepstakes.
Knicks debut Wednesday against Milwaukee. He will join fellow all-star Amar’e Stoudemire in the frontcourt, giving the Knicks the potent duo they hoped they could assemble last summer during free agency. Instead, they had to give up much of their core, but in return they got one of the NBA’s top scorers. “We liked the way our team played this year, and I looked at it and I thought we had one piece that was at the high level of the league. We always wanted two pieces, at least,” team president Donnie Walsh said. Stoudemire has led the Knicks to a 28-26 record, but he said Tuesday they will be even more dangerous with An-
thony bringing his 25.2 points per game to join his 26.1 average. “Every team needs a 1, 1A punch,” Stoudemire said. “And so with the ways that we both can score … we’re very versatile, so it’s hard to guard us. “It’s what he wants. It’s what I wanted, to come to New York and play on the big stage,” Stoudemire said. “He has the same type of swag. This is what he wants, and he can handle it. We’re going to do it together.” The Knicks haven’t made the playoffs since 2004, but they are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference in their first season since acquiring Stoudemire from Phoenix last summer. He thinks the block-
buster deal could make them better equipped in the postseason to face teams such as Boston or Miami. The completion of the deal was delayed while Anthony first signed a three-year, $65 million contract extension with the Nuggets before the trade conference call could be held. The Knicks hope Anthony will be able to play Wednesday when they host Milwaukee. He was expected to arrive in New York to take his physical late Tuesday or Wednesday morning. Though Anthony was the focus, the Knicks are excited about the acquisition of Billups, a former NBA finals MVP and all-star who remains one of the league’s top point guards and will orchestrate D’Antoni’s pick-and-roll offense.
Las Vegas Line By Keith Glantz and Russell Culver
NBA Favorite
Line
Underdog
8
Washington
Chicago
71/2
TORONTO
INDIANA
7
Detroit
Houston
4
CLEVELAND
ORLANDO
121/2
Sacramento
NEW YORK
71/2
Milwaukee
3
MINNESOTA
76ERS
Memphis NEW ORLEANS
61/2
L.A. Clippers
6
Oklahoma City
SAN ANTONIO DALLAS
61/2
Utah
PHOENIX
11/2
Atlanta
L.A. Lakers
21/2
PORTLAND
Home team in CAPITALS.
All-star contest made Wizards dunk artist a household name.
McGee has gotten a lot of attention By Marc Narducci
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
WASHINGTON — His weekend levitation act has turned Washington Wizards center JaVale McGee from a virtual unknown into a household name. When the Wizards visit the 76ers Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center, the team’s headliner will still be rookie point guard John Wall, the first pick in the 2010 draft out of Kentucky. But McGee, a third-year, 7-foot center with incredible hops, leaped his way into the basketball public’s consciousness during Saturday’s NBA slam-dunk contest at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. McGee finished as runnerup to Los Angeles Clippers rookie Blake Griffin, who won after leaping over a car in his final dunk. Griffin needed an impressive prop dunk to upstage McGee, who dunked two basketballs in two baskets at one time and then outdid himself by dunking three basketballs in one basket, including the third on a lob from Wall. “He did two dunks that nobody in the world could probably do,” Wizards coach Flip Saunders said before Tuesday’s 113-96 loss to the Indiana Pacers at the Verizon Center. McGee had five points, eight rebounds and one blocked shot. Suddenly, a player who entered Tuesday’s game averag-
MARK J. TERRILL / Associated Press
Washington’s JaVale McGee dunks three balls during the slam-dunk contest during the NBA’s all-star weekend. ing 9.1 points and 7.5 rebounds had become a household name. “I definitely have gotten a lot of attention from the dunk contest,” McGee said. He said his following on Twitter had grown to 5,000. The 23-year-old McGee is still trying to find his way in the NBA, and he hopes the weekend performance can serve as a springboard. “It was definitely a confidence booster and I am trying to come out here and stay aggressive,” he said. Saunders said McGee could go in one of two directions after his slamfest.
“We said to him that people now know who you are,” Saunders said. “Do you want to be known as a guy who is a dunk guy or be known as a guy who can play?” McGee would take the second choice, but he has a ways to go before it happens. McGee entered the game ranked second in the NBA in blocked shots with 121, but Saunders said that total could be even higher. “He would have a lot more blocks, but he leads the league in goaltending,” Saunders said. Right now, McGee, whose mother Pam was an Olympic
gold medalist, a former allAmerican at Southern Cal and a former WNBA player, is getting by on athletic ability, with periods of brilliance matched by bouts of inconsistency. One of his best career games came Nov. 23 in a 116-114 overtime win over the visiting Sixers. He had a season-high 24 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. This season, the Wizards are 2-1 against the Sixers, winning two overtime decisions at home and losing, 109-97, at the Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 5. “I feel this year Philly might be our rival because we always seem to go into overtime and always play so aggressively against them,” McGee said. “As basketball players, we love the competition against Philly and definitely have to come out hard.” Saunders hopes that McGee can take that attitude into every game. He said the McGee shouldn’t look to wow the spectators on every trip to the basket, at least in games. “You can get dunks with offensive rebounds, running the floor and having John [Wall] throw you lob passes,” Saunders said. “Those are the dunks that count. They don’t give you a 10 or 9.8, they just give you two.” Contact staff writer Marc Narducci at 856-779-3225 or mnarducci@phillynews.com.
Standings
Western Conference
Eastern Conference ATLANTIC
W
L
Pct.
GB Strk
Boston New York 76ERS New Jersey Toronto SOUTHEAST
40 28 27 17 15 W
14 26 29 40 42 L
.741 – W2 .519 12 W2 .482 14 W1 .298 241/2 L3 .263 261/2 L2 Pct. GB Strk
Miami Orlando Atlanta Charlotte Washington CENTRAL
42 36 34 25 15 W
15 21 21 32 40 L
.737 .632 .618 .439 .273 Pct.
– 6 7 17 26 GB
W3 W2 L1 W1 L2 Strk
Chicago Indiana Milwaukee Detroit Cleveland
38 25 22 21 10
16 30 34 37 46
.704 – .455 131/2 .393 17 .362 19 .179 29
W4 W1 W1 L1 W1
TUESDAY'S RESULTS Charlotte 114, Toronto 101 Indiana 113, Washington 96 Houston 108, Detroit 100 Miami 117, Sacramento 97 Milwaukee 94, Minnesota 88 Okla. City 111, L.A. Clippers 88 Denver 120, Memphis 107 Boston at Golden State Atlanta at L.A. Lakers MONDAY'S RESULTS No games scheduled
SOUTHWEST
W
L
Pct.
GB Strk
San Antonio Dallas N.Orleans Memphis Houston NORTHWEST
46 40 33 31 27 W
10 16 25 27 31 L
.821 .714 .569 .534 .466 Pct.
– L1 6 W3 14 L3 16 L1 20 W1 GB Strk
Okla. City Portland Denver Utah Minnesota PACIFIC
36 32 33 31 13 W
19 24 25 26 44 L
.655 – W2 .571 41/2 W6 .569 41/2 W2 .544 6 L4 .228 24 L5 Pct. GB Strk
L.A. Lakers Phoenix Golden St. LA Clippers Sacramento
38 27 26 21 13
19 27 29 36 41
.667 – L3 .500 91/2 L1 .473 11 W3 .368 17 L1 .241 231/2 L3
WEDNESDAY'S GAMES Washington at 76ERS, 7 Oklahoma City at San Antonio, 7 Houston at Cleveland, 7 Detroit at Indiana, 7 Sacramento at Orlando, 7 Chicago at Toronto, 7 Milwaukee at New York, 7:30 Memphis at Minnesota, 8 Utah at Dallas, 8:30 Atlanta at Phoenix, 9 L.A. Clippers at New Orleans, 9:30 L.A. Lakers at Portland, 10:30 THURSDAY'S GAMES Miami at Chicago, 8 Boston at Denver, 10:30