Jalen Rose had a shot to win over Knicks fans in his debut with the team yesterday, but his three-point attempt in the final seconds was partially blocked by Houston’s Stromile Swift and fell short as the Knicks fell to the Rockets 93-89 at Madison Square Garden.

After Rose’s 3-pointer,which would have tied the game, missed with 6.9 seconds left, David Wesley – who made four free throws in the last 23 seconds – hit his final one with three seconds left to ensure the win.

“I wanted that one,” Rose said. “I wanted that one very bad and I’d have liked to see what had happened had he not blocked my shot.”

Rose scored 16 points and had 11 assists in his Knicks debut after being traded from Toronto on Friday, and received a warm reception from the crowd. Rose and a first-round draft pick went to the Knicks for Antonio Davis. Rose started the game, making it the 29th different starting lineup the Knicks have used this season.

Jamal Crawford scored 24 points and Eddy Curry had 15 for the Knicks, who have lost five straight and 11 of 12. Stephon Marbury missed his second straight game with an injured left shoulder. He first injured the shoulder in a loss to Minnesota on January 16 and missed three games with the injury last month.

This is the fourth time this season the Knicks have had a losing streak of five games or longer. The only good news yesterday was that they kept the score close after losing their last four by an average of 20 points.

“I don’t get caught up with wins and losses,” coach Larry Brown said. “I get caught up with guys trying to do the right thing, respecting their teammates, and playing with effort. It’s disappointing to lose and not be rewarded for that as a team. But from my perspective it’s a big step forward.”

Yao Ming, in his fourth game back since missing 21 after toe surgery, looked to have shaken off any lingering effects with a strong start and scored 15 points. Houston is 12-6 when he and Tracy Mc-Grady play. McGrady had missed five games with back spasms.

Yao scored eight of the Rockets’ first 10 points and had two big blocks early in the first quarter. He had all of his 15 points by halftime.

McGrady scored just four points in the first half, but struck in the third quarter. The Rockets were down 49-48 before McGrady and Wesley keyed a 16-3 run to take a 64-52 lead midway through the quarter.

But the Knicks, led by Channing Frye, scored nine straight points to cut the lead to 66-63. McGrady stretched Houston’s lead back to six with a 3-pointer, but Rose answered with another as the quarter ended.

Houston led by as many as nine in the second quarter before the Knicks rallied to cut the lead to 45-42 by halftime.

Knicks center Jerome James scored six points after missing the last five games with a strained neck.