Jeffries Solid In His First Knicks Start
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Eddy Curry had 20 points and nine rebounds and Jared Jeffries added 15 points in his first start of the season to help the Knicks beat Atlanta 94–82 last night.
Curry has scored at least 20 points in 11 straight games, the Knicks’ longest 20-point streak since Patrick Ewing did it in 17 consecutive games in 1993-94.
Jeffries also had seven rebounds, five off the offensive glass, three steals and an assist. He replaced David Lee in the Knicks’ starting lineup.
Stephon Marbury and Nate Robinson each had 13 points for the Knicks.
Marvin Williams led Atlanta with 23 points and seven rebounds. Salim Stoudamire had 12 points for the Hawks.
After the Knicks committed turnovers on their first three possessions, Curry’s three-point play at 10:21 started a 14-5 run and New York never trailed again.
The Hawks did manage to tie it at 20 on Shelden Williams’ two free throws with 7:34 left in the first half.
However, New York used a 12–3 run, highlighted by consecutive 3-pointers from Richardson, to take its biggest lead of the half, 41–32. During that streak, Jeffries tried to draw a charge on Josh Smith, but instead was called for a foul and wound up in the locker room getting three stitches in his chin. Jeffries sat out the rest of the half, as the Knicks took a 47–41 lead into the intermission.
Jeffries returned and started the second half as the Knicks continued to pull away. New York scored the first four points and the last five points of the quarter, taking a 16-point lead, 73–57, into the final period.
The domination continued as the Knicks scored the first 10 points of the final quarter and increased their lead to a game-high 30 points, 90-60, on Renaldo Balkman’s three-point play with 7:16 left. Curry was pulled after reaching 20 points on a three-point play with 10:09 left.
Notes: The Hawks top scorer, Joe Johnson, missed his third straight game due to a right calf strain. He scored 30 points in Atlanta’s 102-92 win over the Knicks on November 3 …Atlanta’s Josh Childress missed his 14th straight game because of a sore left foot …After winning four of its first five games, Atlanta has won four of its last 16.