Brandon Knight

Name: Sam Mills School: La Salle Class: Junior Position: Guard Height/weight: 6-2/200 Hometown: Sunrise, Fla. High school: Cardinal Gibbons Stats: 10.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, 35.5 minutes last season Career highlights: Stopper on defense who almost always draws the opponent's top winger scorer. Terrific spot-up shooter who hit 41.7 percent from the three-point line last season. Had a career-high 19 points vs. Villanova What they are saying: "I thought he was the type of complete guard that we were looking for, and he's proved us perfectly correct on that.

Carmelo Anthony collected 36 points and 12 rebounds, J.R. Smith hit a pair of shot-clock beaters in the final two minutes, and the visiting New York Knicks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 125-120, on Sunday for their 12th consecutive win. The Knicks reached the 50-win mark for the first time in 13 years. Russell Westbrook had 37 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists for Oklahoma City, which fell a game behind San Antonio for first place in the West with five games to play. Kevin Durant scored 27, slipping behind Anthony in the NBA scoring race.

Cody Ehlers had three hits and four RBIs yesterday to lead the Trenton Thunder to an 8-6 Eastern League win over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in the regular-season finale. The Thunder (83-59) will open the playoffs at home tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. against the winner of a one-game playoff between Portland and New Hampshire. Potomac 11, Wilmington 5 WILMINGTON - The Nationals beat the Blue Rocks in the Carolina League. Wilmington (45-24), the second-half Northern Division champion, opens the playoffs tomorrow night at 6:05 against the visiting Frederick Keys.

TAMPA, Fla. - Kentucky coach John Calipari summed up his team, and maybe even his program, in one sentence Wednesday. "You can't count on freshmen," he said. Princeton can only hope that's the case in the NCAA tournament. The 13th-seeded Tigers (25-6) play the fourth-seeded Wildcats (25-8) in the tournament's second round Thursday. It's a matchup that features Princeton's seasoned upperclassmen and Kentucky's talented freshmen - experience against youth, veterans vs. rookies.

AFTER six games in 8 days on the East Coast, you might think the Portland Trail Blazers might be ready to run out of steam. You'd be wrong. LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 points and 13 rebounds, Luke Babbitt hit a pair of clutch three-pointers and Portland overcame an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the host Charlotte Bobcats, 118-112, in overtime Monday night. The Blazers trailed by 97-79 with 5:17 left in regulation but stormed back to tie the score and sent it into overtime on Babbitt's three with 22 seconds left.

JEREMY LIN returned Monday to the home he never thought he was leaving, reflecting fondly on Linsanity, but not trying to recreate it. Lin made his only trip this season with the Houston Rockets to Madison Square Garden, where he went from scrub to sensation last February during a memorable stretch of basketball that made him a worldwide star. He had 22 points and eight assists in leading the Rockets to a 109-96 victory over the Knicks. "It was the time of my life, just being able to play basketball and for us to win games and do it in the fashion that we did was so much fun, and energy and buzz, so definitely something I'll remember forever," Lin said during a pregame news conference that even drew a visit from Spike Lee. Lin received a loud, appreciative cheer during starting lineups from fans, some still wearing his Knicks No. 17 jersey, but got a mixed reception when he left the game with 2:25 remaining and the Rockets leading by 16. James Harden had 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets.

KOBE BRYANT had 21 points and eight rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers overcame the absences of Dwight Howard and Metta World Peace, and the loss of Pau Gasol, to beat the host Brooklyn Nets, 92-83, on Tuesday night. Antawn Jamison, starting for the suspended World Peace, made the go-ahead basket during a closing 14-3 run for the Lakers, who have won three straight and six of their last seven games. Howard missed his third consecutive game with a torn labrum in his right shoulder, and Gasol, his replacement, appeared to injure his right foot with a little more than 4 minutes remaining.

ON THE SECOND game of a tough road trip, Al Horford and the Atlanta Hawks made the most of a chance to put away a weakened opponent. Horford had 23 points and 22 rebounds, leading the Hawks to a 114-103 victory over the banged-up Detroit Pistons on Monday night. It was the fifth win in six games for Atlanta, and the third straight loss for Detroit. The Pistons were without injured guard Brandon Knight (hyperextended knee) and suspended guard Will Bynum. "Obviously, Detroit's a little depleted, and in the past we've kind of relaxed when that happens," Horford said.

DID METTA World Peace turn back into Ron Artest? On Sunday, the Lakers forward who changed his name 2 years ago, received a flagrant foul after mixing it up with 6-3 Pistons guard Brandon Knight. In the Palace of Auburn Hills of all places! Some websites reported that World Peace suckered Knight. On video, it looked more like a lightly thrown, sneaky jab to the jaw. "The play needs to be reviewed because he definitely threw a punch," Knight told the Detroit Free Press.

THE MEMPHIS Grizzlies traded Marreese Speights, Wayne Ellington, Josh Selby and a future first-round draft pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Jon Leuer. The trade Tuesday is the first big move by the Grizzlies' new ownership and clears about $6 million in salary in getting Memphis under the luxury-tax threshold this season. The Grizzlies (26-14) rank fourth in the West and are 6-4 over their past 10 games. The deal gives the lottery-bound Cavs another first-round pick to improve a team that has won only 11 games this season.