New York Knicks Spank Orlando Magic Again with Help from the Bench

Just when you thought the New York Knicks had to be ready to face a motivated team like the Orlando Magic, they went on to spank Dwight Howard's squad once again, 96-80.

What should have been Orlando's motivation, you ask? How about the beat down they suffered at the hands of the Knicks the last time the two teams faced off.

Carmelo Anthony led all Knicks scorers with 19 points and added eight rebounds to go with three assists in the winning effort. He didn't play a single minute in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't necessary anyway, as the Knicks still outscored the Magic 20-19 in the final period.

New York's bench got a huge boost from J.R. Smith and the recently unseen Toney Douglas.

Smith's 15 points weren't much of a surprise, but his all-around effort was. To go along with his point output, Smith added nine assists and four rebounds as well. He continues to do the little things necessary to make him an all-around threat.

Douglas got a form of redemption tonight and proved he belongs in the Knicks' rotation. He scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds. Most importantly, Douglas ran the point effectively with six assists off the bench.

Five Knicks were in double-figures altogether, and the bench produced 41 of the Knicks 96 points on the evening.

Tyson Chandler did a great job on Howard, holding the Magic center to just eight points and eight rebounds.

Viewers of this game will say the difference in this one was the second quarter, where the Knicks outscored the Magic by 10 points, but it was the 12-2 run to end the first quarter that got the Knicks going.

The 13 three-pointers New York hit certainly didn't hurt either.

This was a huge win for the Knicks, as is every win down the stretch.

But with the Chicago Bulls coming up in back-to-back games, it made this win that much more significant to the Knicks' playoff hopes. It was also a very necessary bounce-back win after the dreadful loss to the Indiana Pacers on on Tuesday night.