PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Those “Fire Isiah! chants followed Isiah Thomas from New York.

The Philadelphia 76ers rarely have had a win so easy, scoring 100 points through three quarters and crushing the New York Knicks 124-84 on Wednesday night.

New York had turnovers on almost every possession in some stretches, took ugly shots and trailed by 46 points in the third quarter. By the fourth quarter, a few Knicks fans – or more likely 76ers fans poking fun at New York’s dismal situation – started the familiar “Fire Isiah!” chant. Thomas couldn’t escape the derisive jeer or another loss down I-95.

Philadelphia’s win came hours after the Sixers gave coach Maurice Cheeks a one-year contract extension. While one former NBA point guard-turned-coach celebrated, belittled and beleaguered Thomas could only sit on the Knicks bench and simply stare ahead at this horror.

Jamal Crawford scored 14 points and Eddy Curry had 12 for the Knicks.

One night after the Knicks fell two points shy of the NBA record for points in overtime (23) in a win at Washington, the second-worst team in the Eastern Conference came out with nothing.

Green, Andre Miller and Young scored almost all the points during a 21-4 run in the first quarter that started the blowout. The Sixers, who have won six of seven overall to jump into the Eastern Conference playoff race, led 37-17 at the end of the quarter.

It was their season high for points in a quarter and their 14 steals in the first half was a franchise record.

Miller, who had 12 points and 10 assists, made three of those steals in the half. By halftime, Philadelphia’s sixth straight home win was not in doubt.

Of course, it helped that the Knicks turned the ball over nine times in the first quarter. New York committed 16 turnovers in the first half and went 3-for-14 from 3-point range.

The Sixers really didn’t have to try all that hard. They blew the game open in the second quarter with layups and dunks as the Knicks seemed to show little interest in defending.

The Knicks did manage to score 10 straight points in the fourth quarter, but it didn’t matter much. Young sank a hook shot with 48.2 seconds left in third to give the Sixers a whopping 100-54 lead.

The Sixers, who led the Knicks 102-57 through three, scored 100 points in the first three quarters for the first time since Dec. 7, 1990 against Denver. Their largest margin of victory in franchise history was 62-point win over, yup, the Knicks on Dec. 25, 1960.

Notes: The Sixers set a Wachovia Center record for their biggest margin of victory. … They also scored a season high in points. … Cheeks earned an extension through the 2008-09 season. “That’s what I’m excited about, the chance to come back and try this all over again,” he said.

AP-ES-02-20-08 2134EST

Copy the Story Link