Amar'e, Felton help Knicks snap 6-game skid
Knicks center Amar'e Stoudemire pulls down a rebound during the first half against the Washington Wizards. (Jan. 24, 2011) Credit: Christopher Pasatieri
The last time the Knicks came home from a road trip, they faced a very beatable opponent in the Sacramento Kings and instead stumbled their way through one of the worst home performances of the season. This time around, Mike D'Antoni said his team could not afford another such letdown, and they didn't have one, escaping with a 115-106 win last night over the Wizards.
With the Heat coming into the Garden on Thursday, this was a game the Knicks, who snapped a six-game losing streak, absolutely had to win.
"Obviously it's a little bit different because we have our backs against the wall now," D'Antoni said. "We better come out fighting if we have any aspirations of being a playoff team."
It wasn't quite the dominating performance you'd want to see against the 13-30 Wizards, who are halfway to going winless on the road this season (0-21), but the Knicks got it done when it mattered with a 15-4 run in the fourth quarter. On Saturday, the Knicks failed down the stretch in what was a painful loss to the Thunder on a Kevin Durant three-pointer at the buzzer.
Amar'e Stoudemire had 30 points and nine rebounds and Raymond Felton had 17 points and 15 assists to lead the Knicks (23-21), who went into the game with the NBA's second-highest scoring average (106.2 points per game) and eclipsed 100 points for the first time in four games.
And is there any coincidence that Wilson Chandler also snapped out of his slump on the same night? After two early air balls, Chandler finally found the touch as he finished with 25 points on 9-for-20 shooting. Chandler, who had been under 20 percent from three-point range in his previous six games, hit 4 of 8 from downtown. Shawne Williams drilled a three-pointer with 9:31 to go in the fourth to snap a 95-all tie.
Danilo Gallinari had 17 points, including six in the fourth.
Nick Young led the Wizards with 22 points and Rashard Lewis had 20. Rookie John Wall had 18 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
The Knicks allowed 62 points in the first half, including 36 in the second quarter, which saw the bench blow a 13-point lead. After the Knicks took a 39-26 lead with 10:33 left in the second, the Wizards went on a 23-6 run over the next five minutes that had the Garden crowd groaning. What made it worse was most of the damage was done by no-names Trevor Booker (seven points) and Mustafa Shakur (six).
At the half, the Knicks were outrebounded 29-16, including eight on the offensive boards. The Knicks closed the gap in the second half to finish with a 47-40 rebounding deficit. Donnie Walsh has been shopping for a big man - one that would fit the skill set necessary to motivate D'Antoni to play him - but so far hasn't found a match. Timofey Mozgov, who has played sparingly since beginning the season as the starting center, could get an opportunity soon, but Walsh believes the Knicks just don't have enough size. "We could use another big man," Walsh said. "That's for sure."
When counting his bigs, Walsh did not include Eddy Curry and Anthony Randolph because, he said, "they haven't played yet." Perhaps also because not only is he not counting on them to play in D'Antoni's system anytime soon, he might be counting on them to be key pieces in a future trade for Carmelo Anthony.
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