Crawford helps end Knicks' win streak at five

The Knicks had a chance to do something Saturday that they hadn't accomplished in nearly five years. They had a chance to confirm that things at the Garden really are on an upward swing, that a team with only one great player can be competitive on a nightly basis.

The Knicks were looking to win their sixth straight game for the first time since January 2006. But instead of coming onto the floor fired up, they appeared completely flat, losing a 99-90 decision after a terrible first half.

"We had no energy from the start," said Amar'e Stoudemire, who led the Knicks with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Raymond Felton added 18 points and Landry Fields had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

The Knicks fell behind by as many as 20 points in the first half, and they did it even though Atlanta's biggest star, Joe Johnson, had an awful afternoon, shooting 3-for-15 and scoring seven points. "We came out and we had no pop," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We didn't push the tempo. We got way behind and we paid for it."

Former Knick Jamal Crawford, the first player the Knicks traded away in their two-year salary purge to set up this season's team, scored 21 points off the bench for Atlanta, including 10 in the fourth quarter.

Before the game, Crawford said he held no grudge against the Knicks for trading him. But he looked pretty inspired when he knocked down a momentum- changing three-pointer early in the fourth quarter.

The Hawks went ahead 56-36 late in the second quarter and brought an 18-point lead into the third. But Wilson Chandler, who had 15 points and six rebounds, cut the deficit to 75-71 with a three-point play with 10:39 remaining.

That's when Crawford hit a three-pointer and Al Horford (17 points, nine rebounds) added a pair of baskets for an 11-point lead. The Knicks never got closer than seven points again.

"He hit some big shots for us, and I know it's special for him to come back as he used to be a part of this organization," Atlanta coach Larry Drew - whose team raised its record to 10-7 - said of Crawford. The Knicks fell to 8-9.

The fans clearly were disappointed and began to boo once the Hawks regained a double-digit lead. Atlanta was the first team with a winning record that the Knicks had played in nearly two weeks.

The game also featured a scary moment. Stoudemire came out of the game for three minutes in the third quarter after twisting his ankle, but he appears to be fine. The condition of teammate Ronny Turiaf may be another story, however, as he did not play the entire second half after his left knee began bothering him again.

D'Antoni had no explanation for the flat first-half effort other than the Knicks might have become a little too relaxed over the Thanksgiving holiday.

"We were feeling good about ourselves and we weren't quite ready for a 1 o'clock game," he said. "It was against a good team. We just didn't set the tone early.''