Allgemeines » Allison Pottingers team at the Scheels Arena

NEW YORK -- New Yorks once faint, nearly unrealistic playoff hopes have become a real possibility. The Knicks intend to seize the opportunity and run with it. "We know what we want," Carmelo Anthony said. J.R. Smith had 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists, Anthony added 23 points and 10 rebounds, and the Knicks beat the city rival Brooklyn Nets 110-81 Wednesday night to move percentage points ahead of Atlanta for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot. The Knicks were 21-40 on March 3 after a seven-game skid and are still just 33-43. But they know that record gets wiped away if they can finish off this turnaround. "We want to get there. Thats the goal," Anthony said. "Despite this emotional season, this up-and-down season, I think it would be a big deal to get in that spot." Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 17 points a game after spraining his right ankle to help the Knicks win for the 12th time in 15 games, dominating a team that had the best record in the Eastern Conference since the new year. New York won its third straight. The Knicks made 24 of 36 shots in taking a 63-38 halftime lead in front of new president Phil Jackson, who wouldnt have much to fix if they looked like this more often. They finished at a season-high 60 per cent and outrebounded Brooklyn 41-23. "Our guys are hungry," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "Normally anybody that comes off the West Coast, when youve been out there for a while, that game coming back is normally a tough game, but our guys came out with energy and came out ready to play." Joe Johnson scored 16 points for the Nets, who had won three straight. A night after clinching a playoff berth by beating Houston, they were out of the game by the opening minutes of the second quarter. "It was very frustrating the way we got blown out," Johnson said. "For whatever reason, we had a few guys fighting and a few guys who wasnt fighting. If were not all on the same page, you get a lopsided score like that." In a game that both clubs need for different reasons, the Knicks were the more desperate team, taking a 2-1 lead in the season series. None of the games has been close, but both have bigger concerns than city bragging rights, anyway. The Knicks have almost no margin for error in a final seven-game stretch against playoff-bound opponents. They had no problem with the first one and will face the Nets one more time on April 15 on the second-to-last night of the season. Brooklyn is hoping for home-court advantage in the first round, but fell 2 1/2 games behind Toronto and Chicago for a spot. The Nets led 20-19 late in the first quarter, but Anthony had two baskets, Smith made a 3-pointer and found Hardaway for another at the buzzer as the Knicks scored the final 10 points for a 29-20 lead. Hardaway made another 3 to open the second and Iman Shumpert scored to make it a 15-0 run and give the Knicks a 34-20 advantage. Anthony had the first six points of an 8-0 burst that pushed it to 58-34 with 1:36 remaining in the half, and it was 63-38 at the break. The Nets were angry with the officiating, with Johnson picking up a technical foul at halftime and coach Jason Kidds assistants stepped in front of him as he tried to yell toward the refs. Brooklyn got within 14 with 2 minutes left in the third, but the Knicks, unveiling a small lineup that had Anthony as its centre, stretched their lead to 82-61 heading to the fourth. "They were the better team tonight," Kidd said. "Lose by one, lose by 100, its just a loss. We move on." Knicks guard Raymond Felton went the locker room early in the third quarter with bruised ribs and back after a hard landing while trying to grab an offensive rebound, but was able to return early in the fourth. NOTES: The Nets had won two in a row at Madison Square Garden. ... On World Autism Awareness Day, the Knicks honoured Tarrytown, N.Y., educator Virginia Campbell with this months Sweetwater Clifton "City Spirit" Award for her more than 18 years teaching and helping more than 100 autistic children. The award is named for Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton, the first African-American to play for the Knicks. ... Referee Dick Bavetta was honoured before working his 2,633rd consecutive game assignment, an ironman streak even longer than the one compiled by baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. Cheap Jerseys 2020 . 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Flipkens converted all four of her break points against Meusburger, and the third-seeded Errani broke Karin Knapps serve five times to win their all-Italian match 6-4, 6-3.Erika Brown remembers very little about her first Olympics. After all, it was 25 years ago -- and she was only 15. "I remember the opening ceremony, marching, bits and pieces of the competition," Brown said of her time at the 1988 Calgary Games, "but not a heck of a lot, actually." Now 40, Brown has earned the chance to relive the Olympic experience. On Saturday, she was skip of the rink that swept the playoffs in the U.S. curling trials in Fargo, N.D., to claim a place at the Sochi Olympics in Russia. "Twenty-five years later is bit hard to swallow," Brown told The Associated Press in a phone interview. "I can barely believe I have been alive that long." Brown, who also represented her country at 1998 Nagano Games, said this will be her last Olympics. But for a fierce competitor with curling in her blood, somehow its hard to believe her. Her parents, Steve and Diane, both curled for the U.S. and own a big curling store in Madison, Wis. Steve, who coached Erika at the 1988 and 1998 Games, will coach the U.S. wheelchair team in Sochi. Even Erikas younger brother, Craig, is into curling and competed at the mens trials in Fargo. "Its been a family thing since we were little kids," Erika said. "My mum wasnt sure what to do after I was born, so she took me to watch my dad curl when I was 7 days old. Id probably had only two trips to the doctor by then." Brown has managed to maintain her motivation and desire to practice curling despite having a day job as a physicians assistant in Ontario, where her patients range from newborns to 90-year-olds, and being a mother of two. If she wraps up her morning appointments, she tries to squeeze in about 30 minutes of curling during her lunch hour at a curling club a short distance from work.dddddddddddd That will change in the run-up to Sochi. "I am going to be taking a leave of absence from work, probably in January," Brown said. "That should allow me to have more relaxed practices, where I can be a little more deliberate and take my time." Brown certainly didnt appear underprepared in Fargo last week, clinching victory over Allison Pottingers team at the Scheels Arena with a draw into the four-foot with the final stone of the game. Her teammates -- Debbie McCormick, Jessica Schultz and Ann Swisshelm -- are all former Olympians and Browns rink should contend for a medal in Sochi. "We just found a great combination with this team about three years ago when we got together. Our goal was to make it back to the Olympics and we have," Brown said. "I think anyone who has been to the Olympics once has some pretty built-in motivation to go back. Its such a privileged experience to be part of Team USA, wearing your nation on your back. That experience alone has been a pretty big motivator for the past 25 years." When Brown took time away from school to compete in Calgary, curling was only a demonstration sport. It was again in 1992 before returning to the Olympic program in Nagano. The U.S. rink didnt get past the round-robin stage then, and an Olympic medal remains the thing missing from Browns resume that includes world and national titles. "Olympic gold?" Brown said. "That would be a pretty sweet one of sew it all up with." ' ' '