Rashard Lewis made the go-ahead 3-pointer, and the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Knicks 100–99 last night when Stephon Marbury missed a free throw with 0.9 seconds left.

Marbury kept up his torrid scoring with 40 points, but finished New York’s miserable night at the line when his second attempt bounced out after he was fouled on a drive to the hoop with the Knicks trailing by two. The Knicks finished 24–of–38 (63%) at the line, ruining their comeback attempt.

Ray Allen scored 29 points and Lewis finished with 24, including his 3 with 4.8 seconds left for the SuperSonics, who tied a season high with their third straight victory. Earl Watson matched a career high with 23 points and added nine assists.

The Knicks also were trying to tie a season high with a third straight victory. They had their seven-game home winning streak snapped. Seattle won for the fourth time in five games. Chris Wilcox added 12 points despite missing the fourth quarter after taking a shot to the head.

The Knicks entered the night a half-game behind Orlando and New Jersey for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and knowing that the Nets were visiting league-leading Dallas. But they couldn’t contain Seattle’s perimeter attack in the first half and their rally fell short in the second.

Without Jamal Crawford for the rest of the regular season, and still missing top reserve David Lee and Nate Robinson, the Knicks got 15 points from Eddy Curry and 12 from Quentin Richardson.

Marbury did the rest, surpassing 30 points for the third straight game — though the Knicks needed one more point from him. Allen scored 10 points in the final 6 1/2 minutes, including a 3-pointer after Marbury had made consecutive 3s to bring the Knicks within one; they trailed by 18 earlier in the second half. But New York kept coming, finally tying it at 95 on Richardson’s jumper with 50 seconds remaining.