Thursday, March 29, 2007
The injury-depleted Knicks defeated Cleveland, 97-93.
NEW YORK (AP) -- The way things have been going for the New York Knicks, it wouldn't have been a surprise if Stephon Marbury's 3-pointer spun out.
But down it went, and the Knicks' lagging spirits -- as well as their playoff hopes -- went up.
Eddy Curry scored 13 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, Marbury rattled in a clinching 3-pointer with 8.5 seconds remaining, and New York beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 97-93 Wednesday night to snap a four-game losing streak.
The injury-depleted Knicks lost yet another starter, but won for the second time in eight games and are 1 1/2 games behind Orlando for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
"I have said before, we are not going to cave," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said. "We are going to keep fighting and keep competing. It may not be pretty. As long as we have five, we are going to go out, compete and play as hard as we possibly can."
Skid snapped
Marbury and Channing Frye each finished with 16 points for the Knicks, who have been playing without Jamal Crawford, David Lee and Quentin Richardson during what was their longest skid of the season.
"I think we've got a talented team. I think we're talented enough to adapt to any kind of situation," Curry said. "We've been hit with a lot this season and have been fortunate to play through it. You've just got to go out there and play hard."
LeBron James scored 24 points for the Cavaliers, who had a chance to tie the game at 94, but Zydrunas Ilgauskas made only one of two free throws with 34 seconds left. The Knicks ran the shot clock down before Marbury launched a 3 from the right side that seemed ready to bounce out before falling in.
"I saw that thing roll around like five times," Frye said. "I was just like, maybe if I put my arms up it will go in. But you know what, as soon as he shot it I knew it was going in. It was just one of those games where the stars were aligned in our way."
Pistons' lead grows
Sasha Pavlovic added 20 points for the Cavaliers, who fell three games behind Detroit for best record in the East. The Cavs, who clinched a playoff berth Tuesday, fell to 1-1 on a five-game road trip while they vacate their arena for the women's Final Four.
"It's about us getting stops, but more importantly wanting to assert the effort to get stops," Cavs coach Mike Brown said.
James said the problems were on both ends of the floor, not just on defense.
"I never disagree with my coach," he said. "He puts us in a position to win basketball games. I think at times it was, at times it wasn't.
"We had some opportunities to win, we had some opportunities to lose the game. We lost the game on the defensive end."
The short-handed Knicks, playing without three key players, got a big game from Curry, who was a surprisingly strong 11-for-14 from the free throw line. He twice had baskets early in the fourth quarter after Cleveland had cut New York's lead to one point.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.