Sonics Snap Knicks’ 7-Game Home Winning Streak
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All good things eventually come to an end, especially for the Knicks. Rashard Lewis put Seattle ahead for good on a 3-pointer with 2:41 left, and the SuperSonics became the first visiting team to win at Madison Square Garden in more than a month with a 90-80 victory over the Knicks last night.
Lewis’s 3-pointer gave Seattle a 78-76 lead and started a 10-1 run that helped end the Knicks’ seven-game home winning streak. New York lost for just the second time in its last seven games overall. The Sonics, meanwhile snapped their own season-long three game losing streak.
Lewis scored 23, Allen had 17,and Antonio Daniels 11 for the Sonics, who have the NBA’s fourth-best record. Seattle got the job done with its defense, holding the Knicks to just two field goals over the game’s final 6 1/2 minutes. Reggie Evans grabbed 16 rebounds for the Sonics, who closed the game by scoring 15 of the final 19 points.
Stephon Marbury and Tim Thomas had 20 points each for the Knicks, who had no one else in double figures. New York shot just 4-for-21 (19%) in the fourth quarter.
Marbury made two free throws to give the Knicks a 76-75 lead, and New York had a chance to expand it after a Seattle turnover. But Malik Rose committed an offensive foul away from the ball, and Lewis nailed a 3-pointer.
Kurt Thomas, Jamal Crawford, and Rose missed shots on the Knicks’ next three possessions, and when Lewis found himself about to be double- or triple-teamed in the low post, he passed out to Vladimir Radmanovic for a wide-open 3-pointer that made it 82-76.
A three-point play by Nick Collison on a give-and-go play made it 85-77 with 1:04 left, and the Knicks were done.
“Any time we lose at home, I think it’s a missed opportunity,” Knicks coach Herb Williams said. “We’re trying to get into the playoffs, and to get in to the playoffs you have to win at home. A win is a win, and we need as many as we can get.”
The Knicks fell to 9-20 against teams with winning records and missed a chance to gain a game on Orlando and Indiana in the race for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
