" Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said after a 3-2 loss at San Diego. "D

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. Shaquem Griffin Jersey . The 29-year-old Mills started three games for Oakland this season, posting a 1-1 record with a 4.41 earned-run average. He opened the season appearing in 14 games and making 12 starts for the Milwaukee Brewers triple-A affiliate in Nashville, posting a 4-2 record with a 1. Rashaad Penny Seahawks Jersey .Pete Morelli said the back judge threw a flag on Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens on a pass to Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew in Dallas 24-20 wild-card win Sunday. But the head linesman said there wasnt enough contact and that Hitchens was face-guarding, which isnt a penalty in the NFL. http://www.seahawksauthenticofficialonline.com/authentic-michael-dickson-jersey.html .200. His solution to his hitting woes was business in the front and a party in the back."That would be a mullet," Norris says. Jaron Brown Jersey . -- Henry Josey watched helplessly from the sideline last fall, rehabbing from a serious knee injury, while Missouri was getting pushed around in its first SEC season. Michael Dickson Jersey . Both had to wait out a rain interruption lasting nearly five hours before taking comprehensive third-round victories to join Carling Bassett-Seguso (1983, 1986), Patricia Hy-Boulais (1996-97) and Daniel Nestor (1999) as Canadians who made it into the second week of a major. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Don Zimmer wasnt a fixture in baseball forever. It just seemed that way. He played alongside Jackie Robinson on the only Brooklyn Dodgers team to win the World Series. He coached Derek Jeter on the New York Yankees latest dynasty. And his manager once was the illustrious Casey Stengel. For 66 years, Zimmer was a most popular presence at ballparks all over, a huge chaw often filling his cheek. Everyone in the game seemed to know him, and love him. Zimmer was still working for the Tampa Bay Rays as a senior adviser when he died Wednesday at a hospital in nearby Dunedin. He had been in a rehabilitation centre since having seven hours of heart surgery in mid-April. "Today we all lost a national treasure and a wonderful man," Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg said in a statement. Zimmer started out as a minor league infielder in 1949, hitting powerful shots that earned him the nickname "Popeye." He went on to enjoy one of the longest-lasting careers in baseball history. And oh, the stories he could tell. "I loved listening to him every day," Billy Connors, a coach under Zimmer with the Chicago Cubs, told The Associated Press. Zimmer played on the original New York Mets, saw his Boston Red Sox beaten by Bucky Dents playoff homer, got tossed to the ground by Pedro Martinez during a brawl and was Joe Torres right-hand man as the bench coach with the Yankees. "I hired him as a coach, and he became like a family member to me. He has certainly been a terrific credit to the game," Torre said in a statement. "The game was his life. And his passing is going to create a void in my life and my wife Alis. We loved him. The game of baseball lost a special person tonight. He was a good man," he said. A career .235 hitter in the big leagues, numbers could never define all that Zimmer meant to the game. He did have tremendous success, too -- his teams won six World Series rings and went to the post-season 19 times. Zimmers No. 66 Rays jersey had been worn recently by longtime Tampa Bay third base coach Tom Foley in tribute. The Rays hosted the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night, and Foley was crying in the dugout. Earlier this season, the Rays hung a banner in the front of the press box at Tropicana Field that simply read "ZIM." There was a moment of silence at Dodger Staddium for Zimmer before Los Angeles played the Chicago White Sox.dddddddddddd "On behalf of Major League Baseball and the many clubs that Popeye served in a distinguished baseball life, I extend my deepest condolences to Dons family, friends and his many admirers throughout our game," Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. Zimmers biggest admirer was his wife "Soot" -- they were married at home plate during a minor league game in 1951. Two years later in the minors, Zimmers path took a frightening turn -- he was beaned by a fastball and left in a coma, and doctors had to put metal screws in his head. He recovered well enough to wear a lot of uniforms during his 56 years in the majors. He played for the Dodgers, Mets, Cubs, Cincinnati and Washington. He managed San Diego, Boston, Texas and the Cubs. "Probably the best baseball man I knew," Connors said. Yankees executive Hank Steinbrenner echoed that sentiment. "I loved Zim. I loved his passion. He was a great, great guy. He was a great baseball guy," he told the AP. "Everybody loved him." Steinbrenner, son of late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, said Torre and Zimmer were the "perfect team" during New Yorks run that brought four titles in a five-year span. "Joe was low-keyed. Zim would get fired up. He was a bench coach for real," Steinbrenner said. "He was an extremely important part of the 1990s success." Zimmer hit 91 home runs and had 352 RBIs in 12 seasons. He started Game 7 when Brooklyn beat the Yankees for the 1955 crown and was an All-Star in 1961. The next year, he played under Stengel on the 1962 expansion Mets, who famously went 40-120. "Dont blame them all on me," Zimmer once said. "I got traded after the first 30 days." Zimmer was the 1989 NL Manager of the Year with the Cubs and was at Yankee Stadium for three perfect games, by Don Larsen in the 1956 World Series and by David Cone and David Wells in the late 1990s. "Its a sad day for the game of baseball," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said after a 3-2 loss at San Diego. "Don impacted lives from the time he put a uniform on in the minor leagues until today." Zimmer is survived by his wife; son Thomas, a scout with the San Francisco Giants; daughter Donna, and four grandchildren. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '