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. NMD CS2 Australia . Despite Arsenals financial firepower, the 31-year-old midfielder was the only arrival in the January transfer window. Signed until the end of the season as injury cover, Kallstrom might not be fit until mid-March after arriving Friday at Arsenal having injured his back earlier in the week while training with Spartak Moscow. NMD R1 Mens Australia . a€“ All signs point to the Maple Leafs having their top offseason acquisition in the lineup on opening night. http://www.nmdaustraliasale.com/nmd-r1-shoes-australia.html . In the second game of their day/night doubleheader at Minneapolis, three Blue Jays pitchers, Steve Delabar, Sergio Santos and J. NMD CS1 Australia . Spezza scored a power-play goal with 5 minutes left and Stephane Da Costa had the other two goals to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night. NMD Buy Australia . Halak, 28, split his eighth NHL seasons between the St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals, compiling a 29-13-7 record in 52 games.KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Mike Moustakas hit two balls that had chances to go deep. The first one was just foul down the right-field line, but the second was fair as Moustakas homered to lead off the 13th inning, lifting the Kansas City Royals to a 7-6 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday. Moustakas homered to right on an 0-2 pitch from Chance Ruffin (0-1), who had not pitched in the majors since 2011. I knew it was going to get out, but I knew it was going to be foul soon as I hit it, Moustakas said of the first shot. I got a little too out in front of it. The second one I knew was going to stay fair. I hit it pretty good. I kept my hands in pretty good. It was pretty special with the race were in right now. The Royals entered the game 5 1/2 back in the wild-card standings. Soon as Moose hit the first one, I was hoping it would stay fair, Royals manager Ned Yost said. When it didnt, I turned to Hos (Eric Hosmer) and said, Why is fate tempting us, teasing us like this. Why? Normally when somebody hits a long foul ball homer and theyve got two strikes on them thats it. I cant remember one time Ive ever seen a guy back it up and hit one fair. So when he hit it fair, it was wow, pretty special. Ruffin retired the first five batters he faced, striking out three. I was trying to get the fastball down and in, Ruffin said. He turned on it pretty good. The one he hit out was supposed to be in. I left it in the middle. Louis Coleman (3-0), the eighth Royals pitcher, retired the only batter he faced in the top of the 13th. Kansas City led 6-5 in the ninth inning before Raul Ibanez homered off Greg Holland into the Mariners bullpen with two outs to tie the score. It was Hollands first blown save since May 6 to end his streak of 31 consecutive saves. He throws 100 (mph) and he has a really good slider, Ibanez said. I was trying to swing easy, thinking base hit, a single. He threw a slider and I got it in the air to right field. Sometimes if a guy is not throwing too hard you might look to do some damage, but when a guy is throwing that hard you cant try to do too much. The Royals play their next 12 games against the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians, the two teams in front of them in the AL Central. Every game is crucial and extremely important, Yost said. Weve seen our players do this the majority of the year. They dont believe if were down by five were out of it or were going to lose the game. Billy Butler went 5 for 5, matching his career high in hits for the Royals, while Emilo Bonifacio went 4 for 6 for his first four-hit game since July 4, 2009. Its not easy to come back from a five-run deficit, Butler said. That shows the resiliency of this team.dddddddddddd Every game at this point is a must win. The teams combined to use 44 players, including 14 pitchers. The Mariners threatened in the 11th when Dustin Ackley singled and Nick Franklin walked. Kelvin Herrera, the sixth Royals pitcher, replaced Tim Collins and struck out Franklin Gutierrez and Mike Zunino to end the inning. Butler drove in the tying run with his fourth single in a three-run seventh. Justin Maxwells sacrifice fly scored Butler to put the Royals up 6-5. Royals catcher Salvador Perez went 3 for 3 with a double and RBI, but left in the fifth with dizziness. He took a foul shot from Dustin Ackley off his mask in the top of the fifth. Mariners left-hander Joe Saunders was staked to a 5-0 lead, but could not make it through the fifth inning. Saunders gave up a two-run homer to Alex Gordon and an RBI single to Salvador Perez in the fifth. When Justin Maxwell walked to load the bases, Saunders was replaced by Brandon Maurer, who struck out pinch-hitter Carlos Pena on three pitches to end the inning. Saunders allowed three runs and 11 hits and a walk in 4 2-3 innings. In his past six starts, he is 1-3, allowing 50 hits, including six home runs, in 31 2-3 innings. Maurer, however, gave up four consecutive hits to start Kansas Citys three-run seventh. Justin Smoak hit a two-run homer in the Mariners three-run first. It was Smoaks third home run in 13 at-bats off Royals right-hander Jeremy Guthrie. Kendrys Morales singled home Abraham Almonte, who had doubled, with the first Seattle run. Hosmers fielding error in the third allowed Kyle Seager to score another run. The Mariners made it 5-0 in the fourth on Brad Millers sacrifice fly. Guthrie was pulled after six innings, allowing five runs and seven hits and two walks. He is 1-3 with a 5.11 ERA in his past six starts, yielding 53 hits and 21 earned runs in 37 innings. NOTES: Seattle RHP Felix Hernandez, the 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner, will miss his scheduled start Sunday and has been pushed back to Wednesday. Hernandez left his Monday start against the Royals in the seventh inning with lower back cramps. He wants to start on Sunday and we understand that, manager Eric Wedge said. He felt a lot better yesterday and feels better again today. Hes going to go out and play some catch, but were going to be cautious with him. ... Royals 2B Chris Getz, who suffered a possible concussion on Tuesday, said he was feeling better Thursday, but left the stadium to see a doctor. He suffered a concussion Sept. 12, 2010, and missed the remainder of the season. ... Royals INF Jamey Carroll started at third base after not playing in the previous seven games. ' ' '