Tired Knicks lose in overtime to Cavaliers

CLEVELAND - With about 91/2 minutes to go in the second quarter last night, Ronny Turiaf and Shawne Williams of the Knicks collided under their own basket and went down to the floor in a tangled mess.

As the two men uncoiled a combined 13 feet, 7 inches and 470 pounds of bodies, play continued with the Knicks having a three-on-five on the offensive end. Usually, you'd call a timeout to reset. But the Knicks were fortunate to be playing the LeBron James-less Cavaliers, losers of 10 in a row. So Toney Douglas went end-to-end and swooped in for a layup.

You can go three-on-five and still beat the Cavs. Or so the Knicks must have thought.

But worn out from their tough recent games against the Nuggets, Celtics and Heat, the Knicks could not beat the Cavaliers. They dropped their third in a row, a 109-102 overtime loss at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Knicks (16-12) watched the Cavaliers (8-19) overcome a four-point deficit in the final 41.2 seconds of regulation and were outscored 16-9 in OT.

"We just never had the ability or really the heart to put them away," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We kept fooling around with it and it got us."

Mo Williams led Cleveland with 23 points and 14 assists. Antawn Jamison had 21 points and nine rebounds and Anderson Varejao had 14 points and 17 rebounds.

Amar'e Stoudemire, slowed by a stiff neck that required an in-game massage from a Knicks trainer, scored 23 points. He was averaging 26.6. Stoudemire, who missed a fadeaway at the regulation buzzer, finished with 11 rebounds and eight turnovers.

Stoudemire sat out much of the third quarter after suffering what he called a "stinger" in his left shoulder and neck that left him numb down to his fingertips when he "drove to the basket and Varejao stepped in and kind of cracked me across the neck."

Stoudemire has been bothered by a stiff neck for the last 10 days. It's a good thing the Knicks are off until Wednesday, when they host Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"It's something that'll go away," Stoudemire said. "It's tightness with the neck and shoulder area. Just got to try to massage it out and keep it loose."

Trailing by one, the Knicks took a 91-89 lead when Landry Fields (11 points) hit a three-pointer with 1:54 left in regulation. They expanded it to 93-89 when Raymond Felton (23 points, 11 assists) scored with 52.9 seconds left.

But the Knicks committed enough unsightly turnovers (19 overall) and missed enough shots to give the Cavaliers a chance. It was 93-91 when Williams drove through the Knicks' defense for a tying layup with 3.7 seconds left.

"We had a chance to win," Stoudemire said. "We just couldn't get stops."

The Cavaliers have beaten the Knicks nine straight times overall and seven straight at The House That LeBron Built (And Then Abandoned). But The King was in Washington, helping the Heat to a one-point win over the Wizards.

Stoudemire said before the game that he wasn't concerned that the Knicks would come out flat after playing the Celtics and Heat. "We're desperate for a win, too," he said, adding: "I've got no concerns, no worries that our guys are going to be ready to go."

D'Antoni also dismissed the idea that this was a "trap game" after Friday's 113-91 loss to James and the Heat at a rockin' Garden. That was before the Knicks got caught in the trap.

Said Stoudemire: "It's been a long week. We gave it everything we got in the Miami game. Energy tonight was a little down, mentally and physically."