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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. Dwight Howard Magic Jersey .Sinclair, from Burnaby, B.C., led the Canadian team with three goals at the four-nation competition. She also earned tournament most valuable player honours.The Canadian captain scored on a penalty kick in the 63rd minute and added the winning goal a minute later. Evan Fournier Jersey .com) - Patrik Elias registered the winner in the shootout as New Jersey nipped Toronto 2-1 at Prudential Center on Wednesday. http://www.magicauthentic.com/kids-grant-hill-magic-jersey/ .Y. - For once, Clayton Kershaw was glad to see a long shutout streak end. Tracy Mcgrady Jersey .com) - Real Madrid claimed its 16th consecutive victory across all competitions on Saturday after earning a 2-1 win over Malaga at the Estadio La Rosaleda. Penny Hardaway Magic Jersey . They wanna make t-shirts about it and sell them at our next hockey game..DB: Wow, they want to make t-shirts? That sounds pretty amazing.MS: Yeah, I was also on the Top 10, I was number 1 today, so that was pretty cool.SARASOTA, Fla. -- Ubaldo Jimenez waited until spring training began before signing a four-year, $50 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles. It wasnt a comfortable feeling. "It is very difficult to wait. I know Im not the only one who had headaches," Jimenez said. Because signing Jimenez cost the Orioles their first round draft pick, it was a hard decision for executive vice-president of baseball operations Dan Duquette. "We made that conscious choice to put those resources into our current team on the starting pitching staff and thats what we felt we had to do to stabilize our team and be competitive in the AL East," Duquette said. Baltimore was a surprise playoff team in 2012, won 85 games in 2013 and didnt make a big free agent acquisition until this week when they added South Korean right-hander Suk-min Yoon and the right-handed Jimenez. "It took a lot of patience by the fans and a lot of patience by us to add veteran starting pitchers, but this is a robust market for the veteran starting pitchers. Every starting pitcher that we were in onn, there were four or five other clubs also in on that pitcher actively trying to sign him with good offers," Duquette said.dddddddddddd. The Orioles have a likely starting rotation of Jimenez, Chris Tillman, Wei-Yin Chen, Miguel Gonzalez and Bud Norris. Jimenez, who won 19 games in 2010 for Colorado, and 13 with Cleveland last season, including four straight in September, can help the teams rotation immensely. "Ubaldos going to make the pitching staff. Hes got a good shot at it," manager Buck Showalter said. "Hes worth waiting on." Jimenez has never pitched in the American League East, and unlike some of the other higher profile free agent pitchers, looks forward to working in a tough division. Jimenez will attempt to justify Baltimores investment. "Thats definitely is a lot of money. Im just going to go out there and show everything I have. Im not going to be trying to do too much because then its going to mess everything up. I have to be who I am. I cant be thinking about doing too much," Jimenez said. ' ' '