Knicks waste gritty effort, fall to Blazers

The Knicks finally took control, only to let their lead slip away.

They had Portland on the ropes in the late stages of last night's home opener, their nine-point fourth-quarter lead the result of scrappy defense and solid shooting. The sellout crowd of 19,673 was bursting with excitement, anxious for some good vibes to finally fill the Garden.

But those good feelings quickly faded, as Portland managed to eke out a 100-95 win.

The Knicks (1-2) led by nine with 5:32 left in the game thanks in large part to two momentum-grabbing three-pointers by Bill Walker. But just as quickly as the Knicks built their lead, things began to unravel.

The Trail Blazers (3-0) outscored the Knicks 12-2 to take a 97-95 lead. Amar'e Stoudemire drove to the basket with less than 15 seconds remaining but was stripped by former Knick Marcus Camby. The ball, according to the officials, went off Stoudemire's leg, giving the Blazers possession with 6.5 seconds left.

"I thought there was some contact on the initial drive, but they let them get away with that sometimes," said Stoudemire, who had 18 points. "And he did a good job of stripping the ball."

Coach Mike D'Antoni had preached the importance of defense during halftime, but old habits - such as letting leads slip away - apparently die hard for the Knicks, who lost to Boston on Friday in similar fashion.

"It's tough when you fight like that the whole game," said Wilson Chandler, who scored a team-high 22 points and had 16 rebounds. "Especially two games in a row."

Microphone in hand, Stoudemire had addressed the fans before the game, gearing them up for what had the potential to be a promising home opener. But the Knicks' newest scoring threat appeared out of sync and uncertain at times.

There were, however, flashes of brilliance from the 6-10 forward - such as his forceful one-handed rebound and putback of a missed jumper and his delicate pass to Toney Douglas for a basket underneath early in the fourth quarter - that overshadowed his occasional miscues. Despite being double-teamed for most of the night and a troublesome "disguised zone" that kept the Knicks off-balance, Stoudemire went 8-for-17 from the floor with five rebounds and five fouls, plus a technical.

"It was great," he said of his home debut. "We definitely gave a lot of effort. I think we were overwhelmed, started off a little bit slow."

The Knicks trailed by as many as 12 in the first half but took their first lead of the game on Raymond Felton's three-pointer, which put them ahead 42-39 late in the second quarter.

Chandler singlehandedly put the Knicks back in the game, scoring 13 of his points and grabbing nine rebounds in that frame, which began with the Knicks trailing 26-19. Chandler scored nine straight points, including back-to-back threes, to pull them to within 38-35 with 4:41 to go until halftime.

Felton chipped in 16 for the Knicks and struggling Danilo Gallinari scored only four points in 15 minutes of play. Brandon Roy scored 29 points and grabbed six rebounds for Portland and teammate LaMarcus Aldridge had 20.