PHILADELPHIA -- J. B.J. Upton Jersey .R. Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore. Smith returned from a one-game benching for unsportsmanlike conduct and scored all of his 11 points in the game-turning second quarter Saturday night to help the New York Knicks to a 102-92 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Amare Stoudemire scored 21 points and Carmelo Anthony added 18 for the Knicks (14-22), who have won four straight. "I just wanted to be aggressive, attack, get back to my old self, play with a chip on my shoulder and it worked," Smith said. "It was very important for me as well as the team to get out there and be successful with scoring the ball and getting my teammates open shots." Knicks coach Mike Woodson benched Smith for the entire first quarter before inserting him at the start of the second. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year was benched on Thursday and was fined $50,000 by the league for unsportsmanlike conduct after untying or attempting to untie the shoelaces of opponents in two straight games. "Thats the worst feeling in the world, someone takes the game away from you, especially something you love," Smith said. "Its all you know, youve been doing it your whole life." "Be serious, be a professional and dont take this opportunity for granted," Smith on the lesson he learned. "Theres a lot of people in the world who want our jobs and we cant take it for granted. It can be taken away just that fast." Said Woodson: "It was a total team effort, not just about J.R. He played well and were going to need him to play well but Im proud of everybody." Besides Smith, the Knicks got a boost from Stoudemire, who went 8 for 10 from the field. "Fantastic," Woodson said of Stoudemires performance. "He got stronger as the game went on. He was a force and defensively he was solid. Hes playing well and we have to keep him at that level." Anthony added nine rebounds and seven assists. Spencer Hawes and James Anderson each had 17 points to lead the Sixers (12-25). Thaddeus Young chipped in 15 points for Philadelphia, losers of four in a row. "It was a snowball effort," Hawes said. "We didnt put out the fire early enough." After outscoring the Sixers 32-12 in the second quarter to take a 52-40 halftime lead, the Knicks came out strong after the break. They scored the first four points to open their biggest lead to that point -- 10:56 left in the third quarter. The Sixers never got closer than eight the rest of the way. "We put a full game together tonight," Stoudemire said. "That was a great win for us." After dropping 13 of 16 to start the season, the Knicks have turned things around. Defence has been a big reason for their success of late. New York has given up just 87.3 points per game and limited opponents to 29.3 per cent 3-point shooting during the winning streak that includes Thursdays 102-92 home victory over defending champion Miami. The Sixers, meanwhile, entered ranked last in the league in scoring defence (111.2 points per game) and have been even worse lately, allowing 113.3 points during their losing skid that followed a four-game road winning streak. New York got a big boost from Smith in the second quarter that began with the Knicks down 28-20. Smith nearly eclipsed his season average of 11.3 points per game entering Saturday in the second quarter alone, scoring 11 points by making all four of his field goals, including a pair of 3-pointers, to go with four assists and two rebounds. "We got sloppy in that first quarter," Woodson said. "We couldnt stay at that pace. In the second quarter, we settled in and the defence picked up." The shoelace incident was the latest in a series of transgressions this season for Smith, who was fined $25,000 in November for sending a threatening Tweet to the Pistons Brandon Jennings. That followed a five-game suspension without pay to start the season due to a violation of the leagues anti-drug policy in the off-season. "Im still trying to find myself, trying to find the right way to be a professional," Smith, a nine-year pro, said. "Its a short span we get to play this game and I cant be selfish with it, gotta think team first." NOTES: Kenyon Martin was charged with a Flagrant 1 foul with 8:53 left in the third quarter for elbowing Young. ... Tyson Chandler (illness) missed his third straight game for the Knicks. New York also was without backup point guard Beno Udrih (knee). ... Lavoy Allen (calf) missed his second straight game for Philadelphia. . Knicks baskets received the loudest cheers as there was a large contingent of vising fans among the 16,278 at the Wells Fargo Center. ... Rapper Meek Mill, a Philadelphia native, was seated courtside. Carlos Baerga Jersey .com) - The surprising Calgary Flames host the winless New Jersey Devils at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday. Michael Brantley Jersey . The club announced Friday that Mauro Biello will be kept on as an assistant to coach Jesse Marsch when the Impact join the MLS in 2012. http://www.indiansteamproshop.com/Indians-Ricky-Vaughn-Kids-Jersey/ .com) - The San Francisco Giants delivered plenty of big hits to tie the World Series. TORONTO -- The game marked the return of Rudy Gay, but the night belonged to the Toronto Raptors. Terrence Ross scored 18 points to lead the Raptors to a 99-87 victory over Sacramento on Friday, the Kings first visit since the mammoth seven-player deal in December that sent Gay to the west coast. A month after the Kings manhandled Toronto in Sacramento, the Raptors turned the tables on their visitors, putting their personal feelings aside and showing just how much theyve improved since the roster remake. "We have to treat them like an enemy rather than a friend because we all have friends on that team," said Patrick Patterson, one of the four players who came to Toronto in the deal. "Going into this game we have to treat it like theyre the enemy, as if theyre a villain and were a superhero pretty much. We cant be friendly with them." Patterson and DeMar DeRozan scored 15 points apiece, while Jonas Valanciunas had 14 points and Amir Johnson had nine rebounds to go with nine points for the Raptors (34-26), whove won eight of their last 10 games. DeMarcus Cousins topped Sacramento (22-40) with 24 points, while Gay had 15. The Raptors led for all but the games opening two minutes and pulled away in the third quarter to take an 80-63 advantage into the fourth. Toronto stretched its lead to as much as 23 points in the fourth. The Kings would cut that to 10 points on a Ben McLemore three-pointer with a minute to go that made the game seem closer than it was. The night marked Gays first trip back to Toronto since Raptors GM Masai Ujiri shipped him, Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy to Sacramento for Greivis Vasquez, Patterson, John Salmons and Chuck Hayes on Dec. 9, just 18 games into the season. The first time the teams played last month in Sacramento -- a 109-101 Kings win that saw Sacramento lead by 20 going into the fourth -- was far too friendly for coach Dwane Caseys liking. "I have friends whove been in this league 20-plus years, but I see them in the summertime," the Raptors coach said. "Guys were very professional, workmanlike, not disrespecting their friends on the other team but knowing we had a job to do when you walk out between those lines. "After the game is over you can shake hands, hug, kiss, whatever you want to do. But we have to have that razor-like focus every time we walk on the floor." Salmons said the difference Friday was "We let go of the personal stuff. "We said we were doing that the first game, but clearly we didnt, so it was time to just let it go and just play basketball. It was more professional this time around." The Raptors were 6-12 when Ujiri rewrote his roster in December. Toronto has gone 28-14 since to sit third in the Eastern Conference. Gay, who shot 5-for-13 on the night, wasnt a huge factor in the game. He received a smattering of boos during the Kinggs introductions, and again when he had Sacramentos first basket, but the level of hostility was nothing like that unleashed on former Raptors Vince Carter or even Andrea Bargnani when they play in Toronto. Bradley Zimmer Jersey. The loudest jeers -- and cheers -- of the night came when Gay threw down a huge one-handed dunk but was called for travelling. "Honestly I didnt even pay attention to it," Gay said. "Boo or cheer, either way I have to go out and do my job." Of the former Kings, Patterson had the strongest night against his former team, scoring on an array of shots, including a pretty put-back basket and huge alley-oop dunk in the fourth quarter that brought the crowd of 18,658 to its feet. He was 3-for-4 from three-point range. Casey called Patterson a "godsend" in stretching the floor. "Not only that but his intensity, his work ethic, how hard he plays," Casey said. Patterson said hes thrilled to have come into a team in Toronto where he fits so well. "It feels great, knowing that my teammates look for me, everyone on down the list is encouraging me to shoot the ball no matter where I am on the court, and when the coaching staff is drawing up plays for you and the ball seems to be bouncing your way at times, and then you have the crowd behind you, its definitely a great feeling," Patterson said. The Raptors shot 47 per cent on the night to the Kings 42. The Raptors were the superior team from long range, shooting 10-for-21 from beyond the arc. The Kings went just 5-for-19 from three-point range. Toronto looked rejuvenated from a rare four days off without a game, racing out to an early eight-point lead in a foul-filled first quarter. The Raptors were up 29-19 going into the second. "I thought that we were awful tonight," said Kings coach Michael Malone. "The first and third quarter I thought that our starting group was not ready to play. . . I am very disappointed with the effort tonight and we are nowhere near good enough to come into a playoff teams house and think we can go through the motions and try to turn it on when we want to. "We are not that good a team." The Raptors stretched their lead to 13 early in the second and then went cold, shooting 33 per cent in the quarter and allowing the Kings to pull to within two points. Toronto took a 51-44 advantage into the dressing room at halftime. Ross poured in nine points in the third including a three with 3:13 left that put the Raptors up by 15, their biggest lead to that point. A layup by Patterson with three seconds left sent Toronto into the fourth quarter with an 80-63 advantage. NOTES: The Raptors are in Minnesota on Sunday and Brooklyn on Monday then return to host the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday. . . Toronto, which beat Golden State 104-98 at ACC last Sunday, hasnt dropped back to back home games since losing three straight in late November. Cheap Red Sox Jerseys Cheap Marlins Jerseys Cheap Mets Jerseys Cheap Phillies Jerseys Cheap Nationals Jerseys Cheap Cubs Jerseys Cheap Reds Jerseys Cheap Brewers Jerseys Cheap Pirates Jerseys Cheap Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys Cheap Rockies Jerseys Cheap Dodgers Jerseys Cheap Padres Jerseys Cheap Giants Jerseys ' ' '