Knicks make it two in row, keep Nets winless
Photo credit: AP | David Lee dunks the ball during the third quarter of the Knicks' game against the Nets. (Nov. 21, 2009)
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Nov. 21: Knicks 98, Nets 91
The Knicks don't have The Answer. And they didn't become the answer to a trivia question Saturday.
They held off the Nets for a 98-91 victory at the Izod Center that dropped their neighbors to 0-13, four losses shy of tying the worst start to an NBA season.
"We didn't want to be that team," said Al Harrington, who stuck in the final dagger with a three-pointer that put the Knicks up seven with 59.9 seconds left. He then did a dagger-twisting motion in his chest, in the event anyone missed the significance of his shot.
A day after they decided not to add Allen Iverson, the Knicks (3-9) now have their first two-game winning streak of the season. "We were focusing in on not having a letdown, beat Indiana and then come in and lose to the Nets, no disrespect to them," said Harrington (17 points), one of six Knicks in double figures.
The Nets rallied from 15 down late in the third to pull within one, and they had a bunch of chances to take the lead. But Terrence Williams missed an open three with 2:40 left and the Knicks ahead 87-85. Then, with Sean Williams having fouled out and the Nets' other big man, Brook Lopez, playing passive defense with five fouls, the Knicks pounded away inside.
When Lopez mistimed his leap on Chris Duhon's miss on a drive, David Lee (16 points, 12 rebounds) hit the putback for a 96-89 lead with 37.5 seconds left. Duhon's two free throws made it 98-91 with 31.3 seconds to play, and after Chris Douglas-Roberts missed a three-pointer, the Nets allowed the final 19 seconds to play out without fouling.
"We had some defensive miscues before the end and obviously some rebounding situations towards the end," said Nets coach Lawrence Frank, who has the odd distinction of being in the midst of a 13-game losing streak after starting his coaching career midway through the 2003-04 season with 13 straight wins.
Danilo Gallinari had 17 points for the Knicks, shooting 6-for-12 from the floor. He was much more active than he was in Indiana Wednesday, when he went scoreless in 17 minutes.
"I have to learn to be aggressive every time I touch the ball," he said.
Eddy Curry went the opposite direction from his play in the Pacers game, scoring three points and shooting 1-for-5 in 12:29. But he was on the floor for a decent stretch of the third quarter, even as the Nets were whittling away at their deficit.
"I just like the fact that Coach had me out there in key points of the game," Curry said.
"All the focus is on him when he's out there," Mike D'Antoni said. "We looked clumsy getting him the ball. We will have days like these and it's going to take a while."
Douglas-Roberts had 24 points, Lopez added 18 points and 12 rebounds and Terrence Williams had 17 points for the Nets, who got Devin Harris back after he missed 10 games with a groin injury. Harris had 12 points and seven assists but couldn't provide the ultimate lift, especially for Frank, who might not last through the Nets' upcoming four-game western road trip.
"It would take a toll on anybody. Obviously, no one wants to start oh-and-whatever it is," Harris said. "What hurts more is the so many close games that we're losing. I think if we were getting blown out every game, I think everybody would be like, 'OK, we need a change.' But we're right there each and every game."
