76ers-Knicks: Philadelphia Blows 23-Point Lead, Beats New York In OT

Al Harrington scored a career-best 42 points off the bench and Danilo Gallinari added 30 in his first start for the Knicks in Saturday night's 141-127 overtime loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The 76ers squandered an 18-point fourth-quarter lead and Chris Duhon sent the game into OT with a layup with five seconds left to send their Halloween nightmare into a frantic finish.

Harrington made 16 of his 22 shots from the field before fouling out, while Gallinari shot 8-of-16 from beyond the arc as the Knicks crashed to their third consecutive defeat and second overtime loss in as many days.

The defeat gave the Knicks their worst start to a season in four years, while the 76ers improved to 2-1 with the victory.

As in New York's previous two games against Miami and Charlotte, Mike D'Antoni's men fell behind early, trailing by as many as 23 points in the early stages of the second half.

A 41-point fourth period gave the Knicks hope in their home opener at Madison Square Garden as the team rallied to score eight points in the final 57 seconds of regulation to send the game into overtime.

Al Harrington briefly gave the Knicks the lead with a three-point play and driving lay-up, but that was all New York could get to drop in the extra period as they then missed their final nine shots and got outscored 17-0 in the closing three-and-a-half minutes.

Up until the disappointing overtime period, the Knicks had actually shot pretty well compared to their previous two games.

Despite only scoring eight fast break points, they shot 48 percent from the field and made 14-of-40 three-pointers.

But while Harrington and Gallinari shone for New York, David Lee turned in a significantly below-par performance with just nine points and seven rebounds.

Jared Jeffries also missed four of his shots in his 16 minutes on court, and point guard Chris Duhon could only contributed seven points and six assists.

Larry Hughes picked up some of the slack with 18 points, five rebounds, six assists, four steals, and a block off the bench for the Knicks, who did not play rookies Toney Douglas, Jordan Hill, or Marcus Landry.

Philadelphia will rue not putting the game to bed earlier, especially after dominating the first half, but they will be delighted with the production they got out of their back-court.

Guards Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams were both three assists short of a triple double for the 76ers, with Iguodala racking up 32 points, 11 rebounds, and seven dimes, and Williams adding 27 points, 10 boards, and seven assists.

Thaddeus Young added 25 points for Philadelphia in 45 minutes of action and back-up forward Marreese Speights chipped in with 20 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

New York will look to improve on their defense in their next three home games against New Orleans (Monday), Indiana (Wednesday), and Cleveland (Friday), while Philadelphia will host the Boston Celtics and New Jersey Nets in their next two contests.