SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Even against the Western Conferences worst teams, nothing is coming easy for the New York Knicks right now. Carmelo Anthony scored 36 points, J.R. Smith tied a franchise-record with nine 3-pointers and the Knicks held off a furious rally to beat the Sacramento Kings 107-99 Wednesday night and move a game closer to the final playoff seed. "We needed all of them, Ill tell you that," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said, shaking his head in relief. A night after a lacklustre 127-96 loss at the Los Angeles Lakers, the Knicks avoided a monumental collapse to another of the leagues cellar-dwellers. New York led by 24 in the third quarter before Sacramento surged back, and the Knicks needed a scintillating shooting performance from its leading men to snap a two-game skid. Smith scored 29 points on 10-for-19 shooting, including 9 for 12 from long distance. Anthony shot 12 for 21 from the floor and 5 of 8 from beyond the arc. "That was big time," Anthony said. New York (30-42) is two games behind Atlanta for the final playoff spot in the weak Eastern Conference after the Hawks (31-39) lost 107-83 to Minnesota. DeMarcus Cousins had 32 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists to carry the Kings, who played without injured point guard Isaiah Thomas (bruised right quadriceps). Ray McCallum made his first start in Thomas place alongside fellow rookie Ben McLemore, and the two shook off a slow start to bring the Kings back. McCallum had 10 points, six rebounds and five assists. McLemore scored 16. But New York outshot Sacramento 54.8 per cent to 47.8 per cent and finished 15 for 26 from 3-point range. "The 3-point line killed us," Kings coach Michael Malone said. "You have J.R. Smith and Carmelo Anthony, thats going to be tough to beat." About the only thing that kept the Kings close most of the night-- besides Cousins -- was free throws. Sacramento shot 27 for 35 on free throws, while New York finished 12 for 13. Sacramento scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter and finished with a flurry of highlights to give the Knicks a scare. Cousins three-point play over Amare Stoudemire trimmed New Yorks lead to 96-94 with 4:30 remaining, sending most of the announced crowd of 15,494 roaring to their feet. Smith answered with a 3-pointer, and Tyson Chandler came back with a dunk to put the Knicks up 101-94. After McCallum made two free throws, Anthonys 15-footer with 1:36 to play sent a cluster of fans to the exits, and the rest soon followed. "We know what they wanted to do," Cousins said, "but we have to go out there and execute." The Knicks already assured themselves of a losing season with an embarrassing loss in Los Angeles on Tuesday night with new team president Phil Jackson in attendance. The former Lakers coach, a longtime nemesis of Kings fans, was nowhere to be found in Sacramento on this night. Not that the Knicks shouldve needed Jacksons presence to get by a rebuilding Kings team that is far from the franchise he often led the Lakers past in the playoffs during Sacramentos glory years. New York took control in the second quarter with 20-6 run highlighted by defence and dunks. Chandler capped the spurt with an alley-oop from Smith that put the Knicks up 54-38. Anthony added two 3-pointers to extend New Yorks lead to 74-50 with 6:17 remaining in the third quarter, slapping his headband with his fingers as he backpedaled on defence each time. Smith squashed Sacramentos final rally by making all three of his 3-point attempts in the fourth, moving the Knicks playoffs hopes back in the right direction. "Ive been to (the playoffs) the last four or five years now, and to be home watching it on TV is not going to be any fun," Woodson said. "So Im desperately pushing these guys to try and get em in there, because then a new season starts and anything is possible." NOTES: The teams split the two-game season series, with each winning on the others home floor. ... The last time the Kings started rookies in the backcourt was when Isaiah Thomas and Jimmer Fredette started in a loss to Houston on April 8, 2012. ... New Yorks five-game road trip resumes Friday at Phoenix. ... Sacramento begins a three-game trip at Oklahoma City on Friday. Baltimore Orioles Store . - A late-game interception by defensive back Malcolm Butler saved the Super Bowl for the New England Patriots. Cheap Orioles Jerseys . Instead, Nonis and Kessel were sorting through the fallout of a wild melee with the Buffalo Sabres, one that saw Kessel suspended for the duration of the pre-season. https://www.cheaporioles.com/. The alleged sexual assault is believed to have happened over the weekend of Feb. 1, when the hockey team was in Thunder Bay for two games against Lakehead University. The criminal investigation branch of the Thunder Bay Police Service is leading the investigation with help from Ottawa police. Orioles Jerseys China . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. Fake Orioles Jerseys .com) - The Grand Slam season will get underway Monday at the Australian Open in Melbourne, where a new champion will be crowned this year.Edmonton, AB (SportsNetwork.com) - Tobias Rieder scored two straight short- handed goals to ignite an unrelenting Arizona Coyotes attack en route to a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday. Martin Erat and Oliver Ekman-Larsson both scored, Mikkel Boedker had a goal and an assist and Mike Smith made 25 saves for the Coyotes, who ended a three- game skid. Jordan Eberle and Jeff Petry each scored for the Oilers, who lost their 10th straight game. Viktor Fasth allowed all five goals on 24 shots. Edmonton has now lost 10 consecutive games for the first time since March 8-31, 2011. The Oilers took an early lead just 21 seconds into a Zbynek Michalek roughing minor. Taylor Hall raced up the left side and blasted a shot off the left shoulder of Smith, who was unable to control the rebound. Eberle was there to backhand it home 5:37 into the contest. Edmonton started the second period with 1:49 of power-play time due to a Shane Doan roughing penalty, but it was Arizona, particularly Rieder, that took advantage of it to spark a four-goal middle stanza. Rieder stripped an opposing player of the puck in the neutral zone and embarked on a breakaway before sliding the puck through Fasths pads for a tie game just 36 seconds into the second. It was the rookie forward again 58 seconds lateer.ddddddddddddHe received a stretch pass from Martin Hanzal, eluded a sliding defender and finished the play with a wrist shot to give Edmonton the lead. Moments later, Ekman-Larsson took a feed from Keith Yandle, skated across the top of the slot and slapped a shot past a screened Fasth for a 3-1 advantage on the power play. With just over eight minutes to play in the second, Nail Yakupov fired a shot just a few from the top of the crease, but Smith made a brilliant glove save to deny the Edmonton forward. Boedker tucked a rebound into the net with 17 seconds left in the second to cap the Coyotes impressive stanza. Erat continued Arizonas offensive outburst with the teams fifth straight goal 2:03 into the third, but Petrys shot from the point got past Smith for a 5-2 game over two minutes later. Game Notes Smith is now 10-1-1 in 14 career games against Edmonton ... Rieder tallied the first two short-handed goals of his career ... Edmonton has not won in regulation against Arizona since a 4-3 victory on Jan. 25, 2011 ... The Coyotes have registered at least a point in 16 straight games against the Oilers ... Coyotes defenseman Connor Murphy left the game with an upper-body injury ... The season series resumes Dec. 16 in Arizona. ' ' '