The other Philly-New York game…

Much has been made about what Sunday will be like in the City of Brotherly Love.  After all, the Eagles host the Giants, who hold a half-game lead in the division, at 1 p.m. and then the Phillies will host the Yankees for game four of the World Series at 8 p.m.  If it were tracked, Sunday just might be a record-setting day in Philly for the consumption of beer.

But these two cities battled — and I use that term loosely — in another major sport tonight.

After winning their home opener versus Milwaukee last night, the Sixers headed to the Big Apple to take on the New York Knickerbockers tonight.

The Sixers established a 15-point lead after the first quarter on 16-of-22 shooting to score 40 points.  And they didn’t look back — until the end of the fourth quarter, that is.

Despite building the lead to 22 points in the second half, they allowed the Knicks to tie the game and send it to overtime.

That can’t and shouldn’t happen.

Especially not against one of the worst teams in the league that was playing without Krypto-Nate Robinson, who left midway through the 4th quarter with an injury, and David Lee sitting on the bench in foul trouble.

An elite — or even a good — team would not have let that happen.  They would have put the inferior team away.  Forty-two minutes of solid all-around ball was wiped out by six minutes of bad defense, poor decisions/shooting and unnecessary fouls.

If Al Harrington, who set a Knicks’ record for points off the bench, didn’t foul out, I’m convinced the Knicks would have won.  After Harrington fouled out, the Sixers scored the final 17 straight points in OT.

So, I’m not sure what to make of the Sixers’ 2-1 start.  They lost (badly) to a team (Orlando) that is much better than they are.  They’ve beaten two teams that are worse than they are.

Next up — Boston on Tuesday at the Wachovia Center.

(Fantasy note: If Danilo Gallinari is available in your fantasy basketball league, you might want to take a quick look at the free agents available (waiver wire) in your league.  Gallinari followed up a seven three-pointer night with an eight three-pointer night.)