Sixers, Knicks meet in Philly

Of course, third place doesn't mean all that much if you are entering the contest at 23-43 like the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers.

New York, however, is showing more signs of life than Philly and is coming off one of its most impressive wins of the season on Saturday when Bill Walker scored a career-high 23 points and the Knicks were an efficient 16-of-30 from beyond the arc, helping them snap Dallas' 13-game winning streak with a resounding 128-94 victory at American Airlines Center.

Walker went 5-of-8 from long distance, and Toney Douglas made all four of his three-point shots, on the way to a 21-point effort for New York, which posted its first victory over the Mavericks since January 11, 2006 at Madison Square Garden. Dallas had beaten New York eight consecutive times.

The Knicks, who beat the Mavs for just the second time in the last 17 encounters, also won at Dallas for the first time since December 16, 1999. Before Saturday, the Knicks had lost nine straight road games to Dallas. It was also the largest margin of victory for the Knicks over the Mavs.

The performance from three-point range for the Knicks was a sharp contrast to the putrid effort from the team exactly a week ago when they went an NBA record 0-of-18, on the way to a 20-point home loss to New Jersey.

Wilson Chandler tallied 22 points and Al Harrington chipped in 20 for New York, which shot 56.2 percent from the field. David Lee ended with 15 points, 14 boards and seven assists.

"When we can get a game where we can make shots and string them together, get three or four stops at a time," Harrington said. "We can beat anybody. We're just happy that we were able to bounce back from last night's debacle to win this one tonight."

The Sixers, meanwhile, seemed to have checked out on embattled coach Eddie Jordan and lost for the ninth time in 10 games on Sunday in Miami. Dwyane Wade poured in 38 points on 14-of-25 shooting in that one, pacing the Heat to a 104-91 wire-to-wire victory.

Jason Kapono led Philadelphia with 17 points, while Andre Iguodala went for 15 points, nine assists and six rebounds in the loss.

Thaddeus Young and Jrue Holiday had 14 and 12 points, respectively, in defeat.

"One-on-one is not the problem [guarding Wade]," Iguodala said. "It is the pick-and-rolls. He got into the teeth of the defense and got layups."

The Sixers and Knicks have split a pair of meetings so far this season with each club winning on the other's home floor.