Maurice Evans came off the bench to score a career-high 16 points, and the Sacramento Kings kept the Knicks wallowing in mediocrity with a 105-98 victory last night.

Chris Webber scored 22 points, Peja Stojakovic had 21, Mike Bibby added 19, and Brad Miller 16 for the Kings, who got only two points in 29 minutes from starting guard Doug Christie.

Stephon Marbury led New York with 26 points, 25 of which came in the first three quarters. Nazr Mohammed added 22 points and Allan Houston scored a season-high 21.

Evans, a 6-foot-5 swingman who was used sparingly by Minnesota two years ago before playing professionally in Italy, made up for what Christie failed to provide. He shot 7-for-9 from the field to surpass his previous career high of 13.

Sacramento won for the eighth time in its last nine road games and gained its first victory at Madison Square Garden in nearly a decade.

Prior to the game, Knicks team president Isiah Thomas said he was more than happy with the way his team has performed this season. The loss dropped New York’s record to 16-15, though they still lead the weak Atlantic Division.

The loss was the Knicks second straight, continuing a season-long cycle in which each of their steps forward has been followed by a step in the opposite direction.

“Unfortunately, that’s the cycle of the climb,” Thomas said. “You don’t go from the bottom to the top. There’s always intermediate steps. Right now, we’re probably what our record indicates – a little bit better than .500, a little bit above average, but I don’t think we’re at the top of the league or the top of the climb.”

The Knicks allowed two dunks, two layups, and a wide-open 3-pointer during a 12-0 run to start the second quarter that gave Sacramento a 34–1 lead, but the Knicks caught the Kings by opening the second half with a 23-9 run to go ahead 66-65.

Marbury scored 17 points in the third quarter, and the Knicks trailed 81-79 entering the fourth.

The final quarter was tight throughout. Sacramento took a 98-93 lead when Evans got ahead of the field for an uncontested dunk following a miss from inside by Tim Thomas. A jumper by Kurt Thomas made it a three-point game, but Webber and Miller scored the next four points to lock up the victory, Sacramento’s 10th in 11 games against Eastern Conference opponents.

Michael Sweetney sprained his right ankle in the first half. X-rays were negative, but he did not return.