St. Louis already has won the award twice (2010, ’11), and was a finalist two other times. The 37-year-old ranked second among NHL forwards in total ice time, but was assessed just 14 penalty minutes.

Moulson is a finalist for the second straight season. He had four penalty minutes in 47 games, tied with San Jose’s Logan Couture for the fewest among the NHL’s top 50 scorers.

Kane is a Lady Byng finalist for the first time, after helping Chicago to a Presidents’ Trophy. He played 47 games and averaged 20:03 of ice time, but had just eight penalty minutes.

“Any time you’re up for an award, it’s exciting,” Kane said Thursday. “I thought maybe I had a chance at this one. I think it kind of speaks volumes of where my game has gone since my rookie season. I remember I used to take a lot of penalties that were kind of unnecessary and I kind of got that out of my game a little bit. I’m definitely happy about it. It’s an honor, for sure.”

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Bryant scored a season-high 47 points and carried the Los Angeles Lakers closer to a playoff berth with a 113-106 victory over the short-handed but tenacious Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.

The Lakers moved a full game up on the Utah Jazz for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

“We’ve got no breathing room at all,” Bryant said. “I’m still on edge. We’ve got to win three more games and we’re in.”

Portland, missing the playoffs for the second straight season, has lost nine straight, the most since an 11-game skid in the 2005-06 season. Rookie Damian Lillard led the Blazers with a career-high 38 points.

Pau Gasol had 23 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, while Dwight Howard added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers. Bryant was 18 of 18 from the free throw line and played the entire game, determined to pull out a win after trailing early.

“What he (Bryant) is doing is phenomenal. He’s determined to get us in the playoffs,” Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said. “That’s what happens when you open your mouth and guarantee that we’ll get in the playoffs.”

Bryant vowed in late February that his team would make it to the postseason. The Lakers wrap up the regular season at home with games against playoff-bound Golden State, San Antonio and Houston.

Gasol knotted the game at 96 with a layup and a jumper with 7:09 left. After Lillard’s 15-footer, Gasol added another jumper to tie it again. His layup gave the Lakers a 102-100 edge before Bryant hit a pair of free throws and added a 23-foot jump shot with 4:09 left to make it 106-100.

Howard’s alley-oop dunk from Gasol with 53 seconds left made it 110-104 and all but sealed it.

For much of the game, it seemed like Bryant the veteran against Lillard the upstart rookie.

“He’s spectacular … really fantastic,” Bryant said of the Blazers’ five-time rookie of the month. “A lot of players get hot, but he’s got the moves, patience, intelligence, the balance on his jumpers. He’s the real deal.”

Lillard has grown up admiring Bryant.

“I got to guard him and he got to guard me,” Lillard said. “I enjoyed the challenge.”

The deck was stacked from the start against the Blazers, who started four rookies for the first time in the team’s history.

Portland was without starters Wesley Matthews (ankle), J.J. Hickson (back) and Nicolas Batum (right shoulder). As a result, two-time All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge was the only veteran starting with rookie forward Victor Claver, guards Lillard and Will Barton, and center Meyers Leonard.

Matthews injured his right ankle in Portland’s 96-91 loss to Dallas on Sunday, while Batum was missing his fourth straight game with a sore shoulder. Hickson says he’s been dealing with a painful lower back for the past several games.

But the rookies got off to an astonishingly fast start, going up 17-8 on Lillard’s fadeaway jumper. Lillard banked in a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 22-12 and the Blazers made eight of their first nine shots from the field.

He hit another 3 to make it 35-25 and the Blazers went on to lead 41-33 at the end of the first, their most points in the opening quarter this season.

The Lakers chipped away at the lead and Bryant’s long jumper on the baseline closed Los Angeles to 50-48.

The Blazers led 69-61 at the break, but the Lakers opened the second half with a 10-0 run capped by Howard’s hook shot to pull ahead 71-69, their first lead of the game. Howard’s layup extended the lead to 78-71.

The Blazers were hurt when Claver rolled his ankle late in the third quarter and retreated to the locker room, but they stayed on the Lakers’ heels, coming within 86-85 on Eric Maynor’s running jumper and pulling in front on Luke Babbitt’s 3 pointer.

Maynor’s fadeaway put Portland up 95-90.

“It was a very good effort by our team, but unfortunately we couldn’t pull it out,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “A couple of plays down the stretch could have gone either way, a couple of shots could have gone either way. For the most part, I thought it was a well-played game against a team that’s pretty hungry to make the playoffs.”

Game notes

Combined with the Lakers’ 104-96 victory over New Orleans on Tuesday night, it was the first time this season the Lakers had won both games of a back-to-back. … Lillard was awarded the NBA’s Community Assist award for March because of his anti-bullying campaign. He is the fourth rookie to win the honor, and first since Atlanta’s Al Horford in 2008. More than 5,000 fans have signed a pledge to help end bullying as part of Lillard’s “Respect” program. … Lillard became second Portland rookie to go over 500 assists. Kelvin Ransey had 555 in the 1980-81 season. … The Blazers had won three straight and 12 of their last 14 against the Lakers at the Rose Garden.

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Left short-handed by a rash of frontcourt injuries, the Knicks are suddenly counting on Martin more than they ever imagined. Best of all, he’s coming up big.

Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points, Martin had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and the Knicks clinched a playoff berth with a 99-94 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.

“He means a lot to this team right now,” Anthony said of Martin, his one-time Denver teammate. “We need him coming down the stretch.”

Making his fifth straight start, Martin connected on his first nine field goal attempts, not missing until 1:40 remained in the fourth quarter.

“He stepped up big time,” New York coach Mike Woodson said. “He scored for us, he rebounded, had a few blocks. He did a little bit of everything.”

Veteran guard Jason Kidd, who once played with Martin in New Jersey, said the 35-year-old has been an invaluable addition following injuries to big men Amar’e Stoudemire (right knee), Tyson Chandler (neck), Kurt Thomas (right foot) and Rasheed Wallace (left foot).

“He’s a true professional,” Kidd said. “If we didn’t have him we would be in trouble right now. He’s playing big on both ends.”

Out of basketball before the Knicks came calling, Martin said he considers himself “blessed” to be back on the court and playing for a contender.

“I just tried to stay ready,” he said. “An opportunity came for me to come out and play. It’s unfortunate that it’s because of injury, but I’ll take it.”

J.R. Smith scored 14 points as the Knicks earned their 41st win. That guaranteed they’ll reach the playoffs for the third straight season, something they hadn’t done since a 14-year streak of postseason appearances from 1988 to 2001.

With 15 games left and playoff seeding still undecided, Woodson doesn’t want his team easing up.

“We can’t have any slippage, no matter who we play, because Brooklyn is not going anywhere and Boston is not going anywhere,” Woodson said.

The league’s second-leading scorer, Anthony has 57 total points in his past two games after missing six of the previous eight with a sore right knee. His 43 minutes were about 10 more than Woodson had hoped he’d play, but Anthony wasn’t complaining.

“I’ll take on that challenge, I love that challenge, I want that challenge,” he said. “I wanted to see what I could do, especially being out and not playing the way I know how to play.”

The defeat was a double blow for Toronto, which lost for the 11th time in 15 games and saw forward Rudy Gay leave in the second with a sore back. Gay did not return, and his status for Saturday night’s rematch in New York was not known.

Alan Anderson scored a career-high 35 points, DeMar DeRozan had 18 and Jonas Valanciunas 10 as the Raptors lost their third straight. Kyle Lowry led Toronto with 10 assists.

Down by 14 points midway through the third, the Raptors rallied to make a game of it in the fourth. A three-point play by DeRozan cut it to 84-82 with 6:17 left, but Anthony answered with a three-point play of his own, keying a 10-2 run that put the Knicks up 94-84 with 4:00 remaining.

A putback dunk by Terrence Ross cut it to 97-92 with 39 seconds left and, after Smith missed a pair of free throws, Anderson made two from the line, making it 97-94.

Anthony was fouled and made the first but missed the second, giving the Knicks a four-point edge. Jason Kidd grabbed the rebound when Ross’s 3-point heave came up short, and capped it by making one of two from the line.

Chandler (neck) did not travel with the team, remaining in New York for treatment. Woodson said he doesn’t know when Chandler, who last played March 13, will be cleared to return. The Knicks had earlier said they expected Chandler to miss about a week.

Raymond Felton’s banked 3 gave the Knicks a 25-15 lead with two minutes left in the first but Anderson scored five straight points as the Raptors cut it to 25-22 after one.

Gay headed to the locker room with a sore back at 7:04 of the second and the Knicks pulled away. Anthony and Kidd each scored six as New York outscored Toronto 25-15 to open a 50-37 lead at the half. The Raptors made five of 20 field goal attempts in the quarter.

“We just had a lot of open misses,” Anderson said. “We weren’t swinging the ball from side to side like we did in the previous two games against them.”

Anderson matched a Raptors record with 20 points in the third and Toronto made five of nine from 3-point range, but a turnaround, buzzer-beating 3 by Anthony gave the Knicks a 77-71 lead heading into the fourth.

Game notes

Stoudemire, Thomas and Wallace also skipped the trip to Toronto. … Iman Shumpert started for the New York after sitting out the second half of Wednesday’s win over Orlando with a sore left knee. … Mike James was the last Toronto player to score 20 in a quarter, doing it in the fourth against Detroit on Apr. 14, 2006. … Woodson expressed his sadness at the death of former Knicks captain Ray Williams, who died Friday at the age of 58. “It’s a major loss,” Woodson said. “He’s a part of our Knicks family.” … Actor Isiah Whitlock Jr. attended the game.

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Monta Ellis sank an off-balance 3-pointer just before the final buzzer to give the Milwaukee Bucks a 110-107 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.

Ellis scored 27 points and handed out 13 assists, Ersan Ilyasova added 20 points and 10 rebounds, and the Bucks won in Houston for the second straight season.

Milwaukee went down to the wire again after beating Dallas 95-90 on Tuesday and losing the previous three games by no more than three points. The Bucks and Rockets were tied 105-all when Larry Sanders tipped in Ellis’ miss. James Harden tied it again on a driving layup with 35 seconds left.

Ellis rebounded Ilyasova’s miss with 23 seconds left, giving the Bucks one last chance to win it in regulation. Ellis then took a pass from Brandon Jennings and threw up the game-winner off one foot. The ball rattled around the rim before dropping in, and by then, Ellis was running to the locker room.

“I just threw it up,” Ellis said. “The buzzer went off when it was rolling around the rim. Wasn’t any need for me to come back out.”

The referees reviewed the shot and confirmed that it beat the buzzer. Jennings thought he delivered the pass too late for Ellis to get it off in time.

“But I’m kind of glad I made my move early,” Jennings said. “I didn’t have anything, so I just kicked it out to him and he hit a one-legged 3-point shot for the win.”

James Harden scored 25 points, Chandler Parsons added 20 and Omer Asik grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds for Houston, which led by 17 points in the first quarter.

“It was a bad loss,” Parsons said. “There’s no way around it. There is no way we should have lost that game.”

Mike Dunleavy had 16 points and new acquisition J.J. Redick added 14 for Milwaukee. Dunleavy thinks the Bucks learned from the late-game mistakes they made in the close losses over the past week.

“It kind of wakes you up,” Dunleavy said. “Sometimes, you can feel bad for yourself, bad for the team for a little bit. But eventually you come around on it, and say, `All right, enough of this, we’ve got to get wins.”

Jeremy Lin had 10 points and seven assists and Donatas Motiejunas scored 13 in his first start for Houston.

The Rockets made 12 of their first 13 shots and Lin had one of the early highlights, spinning a behind-the-back pass to Parsons for an easy dunk. Houston had 10 assists on its first 12 baskets, but after Asik finished an alley-oop from Parsons with a dunk, Houston went scoreless for almost three minutes.

“We just didn’t have the same spacing, pace, that we had in the beginning,” Lin said.

Jennings hit consecutive 3s and Dunleavy scored on three layups as Milwaukee mounted a 21-6 run to cut the deficit to two. It was close the rest of the way, and the lead changed hands 13 times in all until the Bucks made more plays down the stretch to win it.

“We’re just getting stops and we’re just countering on the offensive end,” Jennings said of the late-game execution. “We’re just getting easier buckets and we’re taking our time more.”

Harden played with a wrap on his left knee after he bumped into Ellis in the first half. Ellis scored seven points early in the third quarter to help Milwaukee build a seven-point lead. The Rockets quickly rallied, and Asik completed a three-point play to put Houston ahead 70-68 with five minutes left in the third quarter.

Dunleavy twisted his right ankle in the last minute of the third quarter and hobbled to the locker room. He returned with just under 10 minutes left in the game and the Rockets leading 88-84.

Houston continued to misfire from 3-point range early in the final quarter and Redick’s 3-pointer near the six-minute mark put Milwaukee up 99-96. Houston went 7 for 23 from 3-point range, but blamed this loss on its poor defense at the end. The Bucks outscored the Rockets 11-2 over the final three minutes.

“Defense was not very good tonight,” Parsons said. “Bad game overall.”

Game notes

Bucks C Ekpe Udoh sprained his right ankle in the first quarter and did not return. … Ellis had six steals and leads the NBA with eight games this season with at least five. … Rookie Thomas Robinson, acquired in a trade with Sacramento last week, had a basket, a rebound, an assist and three fouls in his Houston debut. … Asik has 26 double-doubles and 39 games with double-digit rebounds this season.

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Turner, 31, rushed for 800 yards and 10 touchdowns last season as the Falcons reached the NFC Championship Game. It marked the fifth straight season in which he reached double figures in TDs.

Turner split time in 2012 with second-year pro Jacquizz Rodgers. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Turner was on the field for 503 snaps and Rodgers took part in 502.

A two-time Pro Bowler, Turner has spent the past five seasons with the Falcons after playing his first four years with the San Diego Chargers. He has rushed for 7,338 yards and 66 TDs in 134 career games.

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L.A. Clippers At Portland
When: 10:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 26, 2013
Where: Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon
TV: 10 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), KGW (Portland)
Prediction: Trail Blazers 96, Clippers 91.

Oddsmakers currently have the Clippers listed as 2-point favorites versus the Trail Blazers, while the game’s total is sitting at 192.

Reserve guard Jamal Crawford scored 25 points when Los Angeles defeated Portland 103-90 on Nov. 8 in the first meeting between the teams. Crawford scored 21 points in the loss to Phoenix for his fourth 20-point outing in six games. Crawford is averaging 16.7 points in a good bounce-back campaign after one lackluster season in Portland. Crawford averaged 14 points for the Trail Blazers but shot just 38.4 percent from the field. Eric Bledsoe has just seven total assists while filling in for Paul over the past two games. Bledsoe averages 8.9 points and 2.7 assists.

Last time out for Los Angeles, they were a 93-88 loser as they battled the Suns on the road. The Clippers failed to cover in the match as a 6.5-point favorite, while 181 combined points moved the game UNDER for totals bettors.

Team record: 32-12 SU, 25-19 ATS
Current streak: lost 3 straight games.
LA Clippers are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games when playing Portland
LA Clippers are 19-6 SU in their last 25 games
LA Clippers are 10-4 SU in their last 14 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 8 of the LA Clippers last 12 games when playing on the road against Portland
When playing on Saturday are 4-6
Before playing Portland are 6-4
After playing Phoenix are 9-1
After a loss are 4-6

Forward LaMarcus Aldridge is headed to the All-Star Game for the second straight season after being picked as a Western Conference reserve. “It means a lot to me,” Aldridge said. “Hopefully I can be a three- and four-time All-Star also.” Aldridge and Miami’s LeBron James are the only players averaging more than 20 points and eight rebounds. Aldridge’s marks are 20.7 and 8.8, respectively. “I’m very happy for LaMarcus, he is the foundation of what we are building here,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said. “He is very deserving of this honor and I’m glad he was recognized by my fellow coaches.” Aldridge has nine double-doubles in January and had 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting in Wednesday’s victory.

Last time out for Portland, they were a 100-80 winner as they battled the Pacers at home. The Trail Blazers covered in the match as a 1-point favorite, while 180 combined points moved the game UNDER for totals bettors.

Team record: 21-21 SU, 19-21-2 ATS
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of last 6 games at home
is 19-6 SU in their last 25 games when playing at home against LA Clippers
is 13-5 SU in its last 18 games at home
is 13-6 SU in their last 19 games when playing LA Clippers
When playing on Saturday are 4-6
Before playing LA Clippers are 8-2
After playing Indiana are 1-9
After a win are 6-4

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McCoy had one thing to do, though, before accepting the Chargers’ offer, so it was a good thing Chargers president Dean Spanos’ private plane was at his disposal.

“There was no doubt in my mind when I got back on that plane to go back home,” said McCoy, the former Denver Broncos offensive coordinator who was introduced Tuesday as Chargers’ new coach. “They wanted to keep me here last night. But I said, ‘I’ve got to talk to my wife about this before.’ If I made the decision without talking to my wife, I might get in a little trouble.”

So McCoy flew back to Denver to talk it over with his wife, Kellie. McCoy, his wife and their two children were back on the same plane Tuesday morning, flying back to San Diego to take the job.

“Without a doubt, we knew this was the place we wanted to be,” said McCoy, who signed a four-year contract.

McCoy replaces Norv Turner, who was fired along with general manager A.J. Smith after the Chargers finished 7-9 and missed the playoffs for the third straight season.

The move comes three days after the top-seeded Broncos were eliminated from the playoffs in a double-overtime home loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

The 40-year-old McCoy is the same age as Tom Telesco, who was hired as general manager last week. He interviewed after the Chargers already had talked to Seattle defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, fired head coaches Lovie Smith and Ken Whisenhunt, and Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden.

“Once he came in and once we saw how good he was, we just felt we had to have him now,” Telesco said of McCoy. “We had to get it done or we’d lose him.”

“He was polished, prepared, had great questions, which I think is big, too, that he had a lot of questions for us. It’s a partnership between the GM and the head coach, through and through. We spend more time with each other during the season than we do with our own family, so it’s got to be a tight relationship. When he came in, after a little bit of time, you could tell he was the right guy for us. We went after him hard.”

San Diego was scheduled to interview Indianapolis offensive coordinator Bruce Arians on Wednesday. Telesco, previously the Colts’ vice president of football operations, called Arians on Tuesday morning and told him the Chargers had hired McCoy.

“It was a tough phone call,” Telesco said. “I have so much respect for Bruce. He’s an excellent football coach. He’s going to be a great head coach in this league. I was honest with him. I said, ‘There’s different situations, different fits, and right now, this is a fit for Mike McCoy.’ He understood.”

McCoy inherits a team that hasn’t won a playoff game since after the 2008 season.

He thanked all the coaches and players he’s worked with over the years for helping him get to this point. He also said he knew just a few minutes into his interview that San Diego was the right place.

“They all laughed at me when I walked in yesterday with this big ol’ bag with all these books and binders and everything,” McCoy said. “Well, that’s my life’s work. We’ve got a detailed plan that Tom and I are going to put together. … There’s going to be some change. There’s a reason for change. And change is good sometimes in organizations. We’ve just got to make the most of the opportunity we have moving forward.”

The Broncos have won consecutive AFC West titles. McCoy tutored quarterbacks Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow in 2011, and had Peyton Manning behind center in 2012.

McCoy, who interviewed with the Miami Dolphins last year after retooling Denver’s offense to the read-option for Tebow at midstream in 2011, burnished his head coaching credentials this season while blending the power formations the Broncos used in leading the league in rushing last year with Tebow and some of the spread formations that Manning ran in Indianapolis.

“I think he’s going to be a great head coach. Very detail-oriented, knows the game, relates with players very well,” Broncos wide receiver Brandon Stokley said.

“Peyton does a lot but Mike is very good at what he does and he did a great job this year, so a lot of credit needs to go to him, also,” Stokley said. “I think that’s what you need to be a head coach — you need to be flexible. You need to do whatever you think is the best for your team to win and you know that’s what he’s done. You saw that last year. Not a lot of offensive coordinators in the NFL like running that kind of offense, but that’s what he did and it was successful.”

McCoy said he was “a bit stubborn” after Tebow was made the starter in 2011, but then realized he needed to change the offense.

“You take advantage of what your players do best,” McCoy said.

With the Chargers, McCoy will work with Philip Rivers, who struggled this season in large part because he was under siege behind a shaky offensive line. Rivers was sacked 49 times and committed 22 turnovers, giving him 47 turnovers in two seasons.

“You go through the disappointment from the season and losing your coach to now having a new GM, new coach, and you get excited and ready to go for this 2013 season,” Rivers said.

“Once I found out that we were bringing him in on Monday, I was hoping he wasn’t going to leave again. I’m excited that was the case and I’m looking forward to getting started.”

Denver swept the Chargers in 2012, including an epic 35-24 victory at San Diego on Oct. 15 when Manning calmly led the Broncos back from a 24-0 halftime deficit.

McCoy was a walk-on quarterback at Long Beach State under coach George Allen. After the 49ers dropped football, he transferred to Utah. He signed with the Broncos as a free agent and spent his rookie season on Green Bay’s practice squad. He had stops in NFL Europe and with San Francisco, Philadelphia and in the CFL. He began his pro coaching career with Carolina before moving to the Broncos in 2009.

McCoy said he learned about detail and preparation from Allen, who coached the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins.

“He was not a big yeller and screamer, he just expected you to go out there and do your job and execute the system the way it was supposed to be executed,” McCoy said.

McCoy said he planned to hire an offensive coordinator to call plays. Turner called his own plays. McCoy was non-committal about defensive coordinator John Pagano, saying he planned to evaluate the entire staff.

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Tannenbaum, who has run the football operation since 2006, was fired Monday, owner Woody Johnson announced in a statement. Rex Ryan will remain as coach, according to Johnson.

A search for a new GM will commence immediately.

Johnson made the move after the Jets failed to make the playoffs for a second straight season. The Jets, undermined by poor quarterback play and a lack of playmakers on offense, stumbled to 6-10. Johnson said he informed Tannenbaum on Monday morning.

“Although he helped guide us to two consecutive AFC Championship Games, we are not where we want to be, and a new General Manager will be critical to getting this team back on the right track,” Johnson said in the statement.

Johnson said he has consulted with “a number of football executives,” adding that he has hired Korn/Ferry International, which will conduct the search for a new GM. It will be headed by Jed Hughes, who previously led the general manager search for the Seattle Seahawks.

Johnson eliminated any doubt about Ryan’s future.

“I believe that he has the passion, the talent, and the drive to successfully lead our team,” Johnson said.

Ryan has two years and approximately $6 million remaining on his contract.

“Like all Jets fans, I am disappointed with this year’s results,” Johnson said. “However, I am confident that this change will best position our team for greater success going forward.”

It was a stunning fall for Tannenbaum, who was considered one of the NFL’s top young executives when the Jets reached back-to-back AFC Championship Games in 2009 and 2010.

Since then, the talent base has eroded, leaving a roster filled with question marks and uncertainty at the quarterback position. The Jets are also saddled with several bad contracts.

In Tannenbaum’s seven seasons, the Jets went 57-55, made the postseason three times and won four playoff games. On his watch, they’ve had two head coaches, Eric Mangini and Rex Ryan.

Tannenbaum became known as “Trader Mike” for his aggressive deals. His biggest trade came in 2009, when he dealt for Brett Favre. Some of his better moves were drafting Darrelle Revis and trading for Antonio Cromartie.

But Tannenbaum also had some clunkers, none bigger than drafting Vernon Gholston in 2008 and making the controversial Tim Tebow trade. Tannenbaum predicted that Tebow would be a “dynamic” weapon in the offense, but it was an unmitigated disaster. The decision to extend Mark Sanchez’s contract last offseason also proved to be a poor decision.

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There will be no repeat championship for the Giants, not even a playoff berth. A 9-7 season wasn’t good enough this time around.

The Giants saw their playoff hopes end Sunday, minutes after a 42-7 win over the Philadelphia Eagles when Chicago beat Detroit 26-24.

“It happens that way,” Tuck said after the Giants rebounded from two bad losses and routed the Eagles in what might have been Andy Reid’s final game at coach. “I’ve been 10-6 and not made the playoffs. You’ve got to win the ones you’re supposed to. That’s why the division games mean so much. If we’d won the division games, we’d still be in the driver’s seat.”

Instead, they are headed home early.

“We are certainly disappointed we are not in the playoffs,” coach Tom Coughlin said after New York missed the postseason for the third time in four years. “Our goal was certainly to be there. Our goal was to win the division. We didn’t do that either. We won nine games and there is no way anyone can talk us out of that. We do have the nine wins, but it’s not good enough.”

A year ago it was. The Giants won their last two games in 2011 to get into the playoffs, and finished the season with six straight wins in earning their second NFL title in five seasons.

This marks the seventh straight season the Super Bowl champion has failed to win a playoff game the following year.

A little more than an hour after Reid finished his worst season with the Eagles (4-12), three people familiar with the decision told The Associated Press that his 14-year tenure as Philadelphia’s coach was over.

Reid and team owner Jeffrey Lurie are scheduled to meet Monday, and a team official insisted to ESPN that Reid has yet to be informed that he will be fired.

Another Eagles source told ESPN that Lurie and Reid met Friday, but the Eagles’ owner did not inform him at that time that he would be let go.

Reid is due to make $6 million in 2013 in the final year of his contract. He said he wants to coach next year, but it’s possible Lurie could persuade him to take a season off and perhaps help out in the front office in an “advisory” role.

Eagles spokesman Derek Boyko denied several reports that Lurie had already fired Reid, saying they were “absolutely, 100 percent” untrue.

“I’ve been doing it a long time. I have respect for Jeff Lurie. I go in eyes wide open,” Reid said. “Either way, I understand. Whatever he chooses will be the right thing. He always does things for the best interests of the Eagles.”

Eli Manning did his part to keep the Giants in the chase with a career-best five touchdown passes. Fans who stuck around were chanting “Let’s Go Lions” as the final moments ticked off in the Chicago-Detroit game.

“It hurts,” said Manning, who finished 13 of 21 for 208 yards and no interceptions. “Each year you want to make the playoffs to give yourself an opportunity to win a championship; 9-7 last year was good enough. It wasn’t good enough this year and we knew it wouldn’t be.”

After going 6-2, they lost five of eight, including two games by a combined 67-14 to playoff-bound Atlanta and Baltimore.

“The first thing is you don’t ever rely on anybody else in this business,” said Coughlin. “You’ve got to take care of your own business. We certainly had our chances. That will be the No. 1 thing I’ll talk to the team about.”

Manning woke up the offense with touchdown passes of 3 and 38 yards to rookie Rueben Randle, a 15-yarder to David Wilson and a 24-yarder to Victor Cruz just before halftime for a 35-7 lead. He’s the first Giant to throw five TD passes in a game since Phil Simms in 1980. His fifth score was a 1-yard pass to fullback Henry Hynoski in the fourth quarter.

Ahmad Bradshaw, who rushed for 107 yards and passed the 1,000-yard mark for the second time in his career, also scored on a 1-yard run.

Starting for the first time since a concussion against Dallas in early November, Michael Vick threw a 7-yard touchdown to Jeremy Maclin. Vick finished 19 of 35 for 197 yards and one interception before being replaced by Trent Edwards.

The Eagles had hoped to send Reid out on a positive note, but they played poorly.

“We came, we stunk it up and we lost,” defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins said. “It was terrible. No heart.”

Vick, replacing injured rookie Nick Foles, was also reluctant to discuss his future, but he felt for Reid, who gave him a second chance after he got out of prison.

“He’s a great man and I love him to death,” Vick said. “I wish I could’ve done more. A lot of players wish they could’ve done more. Coaches can’t play the games.”

The Eagles surprised the Giants on a cold and windy day with an onside kick to open the game. However, turnovers have hurt the Eagles all season, and it happened again when Stevie Brown came up with his eighth interception.

Manning needed four plays, finding Randle over the middle for his second touchdown of his rookie season. His third came on the following series when New York went 74 yards in five plays.

The third touchdown was another pass to a rookie, with Wilson catching a 15-yarder, then doing his usual back flip to celebrate.

Game notes

About 400 residents of Newtown, Conn., attended the New York Giants-Philadelphia Eagles game Sunday. Among them were a few families who lost children in the massacre this month, the Giants said. One was the family of Jack Pinto, the 6-year-old boy buried in a No. 80 jersey of Giants receiver Victor Cruz. … Bradshaw finished with 1,015 yards rushing. …Manning fell 52 yards shy of his fourth straight 4,000 yard passing season. …Brown’s 48-yard return gave him 307 yards in interception returns this season, extending his Giants’ single-season record. … Eagles safety Colt Anderson led them with 10 tackles.

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