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By InsideHoops.com

The New York Knicks hosted the Philadelphia 76ers in Madison Square Garden and came away with a 99-88 win.

The Knicks were without starting shooting guard Allan Houston, the team's leading scorer, and starting small forward Keith Van Horn. Houston is out with a sore back. He had played in 103 consecutive games up till this point.

Shandon Anderson started in place of Houston and led the team with 20 points. Anderson also had four rebounds, three assists and two steals. He shot 9-of-14 from the field.

Anderson received a rare gift tonight, a chance to actually fly up and down the court. "I just felt good running and getting out there on the open court. That's the way I love to play. You get into a good rhythm. The blood is flowing and everything is flowing."

Howard Eisley, the starting point guard, had 17 points and nine assists. Charlie Ward came off the bench to add 18 points, five assists and three steals.

Kurt Thomas had 14 points and 12 rebounds. It's his seventh double-double of the season.

The 76ers are still without Glenn Robinson and Derrick Coleman. Allen Iverson shot 9-of-23 for 27 points. He also committed six turnovers. "They just outplayed us tonight," Iverson said. "They had some guys out tonight and we approached the game like it was going to be a cakewalk. They shot the ball well from the three-point line and they did everything they had to do to win."

The Knicks shot 50.6% from the field, while Philly shot just under 39%.

Don Chaney was happy. "I was very pleased at our guys, for playing at the level that they played. I thought the ball movement was superb. Our defense was great as well."

The Knicks ran a lot more tonight than usual. There was penetration and quickness and other good things typically lacking from their offense.

"We have to build on this," Chaney added. I hope we found our game. I enjoy playing this way. I grew up playing like this and that's how I want us to play. But, we have to understand that we have to give up a lot to play this way. You have to be selfless. I thought our guys did that. I thought they passed the ball well to each other. They also read the defense very well."

The true highlight of the evening actually took place during a time-out. Christopher Grodner, a fan chosen from the Garden crowd, participated in a shooting contest. After hitting a few shots to win some cash, he was given a chance to fire from half-court for $77,777. Grodner took a running start, took the shot and hit nothing but the bottom of the net. The crowd went crazy. It rocked. The bad news is that the man is a banker. In other words, he'll probably spend all $77,777 on dinner tonight.

The Knicks are now 4-9 overall for the season, and 3-4 at home.

Dikembe Mutumbo has 2,892 blocks. Three more and he'll pass Patrick Ewing to become the fifth all-time leading shot-blocker in NBA history.

Madison Square Garden sold out (in tickets sold, at least - 19,763 tickets) tonight. It's the third sellout of the season.