GAME THREAD: NBA: NEW JERSEY (10-13) at NEW YORK (6-16)

[SportsTicker]

NBA: NEW JERSEY at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NEW JERSEY (86)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
J Kidd 38:39 8-16 2-2 0-7 7 3 18
V Carter 40:24 8-16 5-8 0-2 7 4 24
R Jefferson 38:29 7-21 0-0 1-6 2 3 14
M Allen 10:57 1-4 0-0 1-2 0 4 2
J Collins 18:12 1-1 0-0 2-5 0 3 2
J Boone 31:17 5-5 0-2 3-6 1 2 10
A Wright 27:52 2-7 0-4 0-3 1 4 6
S Williams 17:59 4-7 0-0 0-5 1 3 8
D Armstrong 11:01 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 2 0
J Magloire 5:10 1-2 0-0 0-1 0 0 2
B Nachbar DNP - RIGHT ANKLE
M Williams DNP - COACH'S DECISION

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 37-80 7-16 7-37 20 28 86
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.463, FT-.438. 3-Point Goals:
5-16, .313 (J Kidd 0-5, V Carter 3-5, R
Jefferson 0-3, A Wright 2-3). Team Rebounds:
8. Blocked Shots:5 (J Boone 2, S Williams 2,
V Carter). Turnovers:10 (R Jefferson 4, A
Wright 3, J Kidd, S Williams, J Collins).
Steals: 6 (J Kidd 4, V Carter, S Williams).


NEW YORK (94)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
F Jones 41:51 2-7 2-2 3-5 4 3 7
J Crawford 45:15 11-18 6-8 1-7 3 1 32
Q Richardson 31:31 2-8 3-6 0-2 1 1 8
Z Randolph 41:01 7-15 6-8 1-13 5 3 20
E Curry 37:42 9-16 5-8 3-9 0 3 23
J Jeffries 14:35 0-0 0-0 1-3 0 3 0
D Lee 12:49 1-5 1-2 2-3 0 2 3
N Robinson 9:18 0-3 1-2 0-3 1 0 1
R Balkman 3:13 0-1 0-0 3-3 0 2 0
M Collins 2:45 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
M Rose DNP - COACH'S DECISION
W Chandler DNP - COACH'S DECISION

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 32-76 24-36 14-48 14 18 94
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.421, FT-.667. 3-Point Goals:
6-22, .273 (F Jones 1-4, J Crawford 4-7, Q
Richardson 1-5, Z Randolph 0-3, N Robinson
0-1, M Collins 0-2). Team Rebounds: 15.
Blocked Shots:2 (Z Randolph, E Curry).
Turnovers:12 (Z Randolph 5, E Curry 2, F
Jones 2, J Crawford, J Jeffries, M Collins).
Steals: 4 (Z Randolph 2, J Crawford, F
Jones).

-------------------------------------------
NEW JERSEY 24 14 24 24 - 86
NEW YORK 18 22 30 24 - 94
-------------------------------------------

Technical fouls: None.
Flagrant fouls: None. A: 18,225. T: 2:12.
Officials: Mike Callahan, Ron Olesiak, Tony
Brothers.</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

By Larry Fleisher
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


NEW YORK (Ticker) -- There was an Eddy Curry sighting, andthe New York Knicks found something else that had been reportedmissing - a victory.


A night after going scoreless in 13 minutes, Curry had 23 pointsand nine rebounds as the Knicks snapped a five-game losingstreak with a 94-86 victory over the New Jersey Nets Saturdaynight at Madison Square Garden.


"Eddy is a big part of this team and we need him to besuccessful," New York forward Zach Randolph said. "He stayedaggressive, faced up and going off his dribble helped him. Heplayed better tonight. He played big. For us to win, we needhim."


"It's good to get him back," Knicks guard Jamal Crawford said."A player like Eddy will come out of it sooner or later. Wedefinitely needed him tonight."


Crawford added 32 points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointerthat gave the Knicks a 70-62 lead entering the fourth.

Randolph added 20 points and 13 rebounds for New York, whichnever squandered that lead and picked up its first win sinceDecember 5 at New Jersey when Jason Kidd sat out with amigraine.


While Crawford and Randolph's individual efforts ensured theKnicks would not squander the lead in the fourth, it was Curry'sre-emergence that was the biggest development.


Curry played 37:42, made 9-of-16 shots and 5-of-8 free throws. Healso just missed his second double-double of the season as he grabbednine rebounds.


"When he plays like this, he is a force and he is a realpresence," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said of Curry. "Nothingreally changed. He had the same shots that he's had the lastcouple of games.


"You could see his will and his determination and his wholedemeanor. That really comes from him and just the way heapproaches it. When he approaches the game like that, it justgives everyone confidence, particularly the guards."

During New York's losing streak, Curry had scored just 36 pointswhile making 16-of-41 shots. Those games included a 3-of-13showing Monday against Dallas and an 0-of-5 night Friday in a101-96 loss at Chicago.


Curry sat out most of the second half Friday, had two dunksblocked and picked up two fouls in the first 2:46. It resultedin him going scoreless for the first time since January 29, 2003and was also the sixth game that he failed to score in doublefigures.


"I was mad at myself," Curry said. "I feel like I was lettingmy team down every time we lost, and I looked at the box scoreand just the way I felt after the game. I felt like I couldhave did more and, if I just did a little bit, we could probablywin some games."


That game also came after Thomas hinted that Curry was limitedin what he could do. A night later, Curry turned in his first20-point performance since December 2 against Phoenix and sixthoverall.


"I just kind of made up my mind that I was going to come out andplay as hard as I can and, if I miss shots, I wasn't going tolet it affect me," Curry said. "But I was going to play thewhole game and, at the end of the game, I was going to know Idid everything, I could to get myself out of the funk I was in."

The Knicks never built their lead to any more than 10 in thefourth but also never wilted as their lead was sliced to fourwith Curry on the bench. They restored their lead to eight onCrawford's 17-footer with just over five minutes remaining andwere never threatened thereafter.


Curry returned with 4:23 remaining and gave the Knicks theirfirst double-digit lead of the night when he made a pair of freethrows.


The win snapped New York's 11-game losing streak to New Jerseywith Kidd on the court. Including the four-game sweep in the2004 playoffs, the Knicks are just 3-24 against New Jersey sinceKidd's arrival in 2001.


Without Kidd's services, the Nets suffered a 100-93 setback tothe Knicks when the two teams met for the first time this seasonon December 5.


Kidd missed the game with a migraine headache but multiplereports said he decided to sit out to protest the current stateof the franchise and perhaps force a trade. The 13-year veterandenied the reports.


In this one, Kidd collected 18 points, seven rebounds and sevenassists for New Jersey, which lost to lowly New York one nightafter defeating the defending Eastern Conference championCleveland Cavaliers at home.


"We knew Curry was going to be extremely motivated coming offhis performance against Chicago," Nets coach Lawrence Franksaid. "It was more lack of offensive attack. We tried to getourselves going by double-teaming, creating some turnovers andenergy.


"At the end of the day, we just have to find a way in terms ofgetting the ball in the paint and doing a better job of passingout of the double teams. We played like a very tired team."

Vince Carter led the Nets with 24 points and Richard Jeffersonfinished with 14 but shot 7-of-21 for New Jersey, which lost forthe fifth time in six games.


"We had great efforts from everybody last night," Kidd said."We just couldn't carry it over to tonight. We had a lot ofgood looks but we just couldn't knock them down."


Curry, whom Thomas sent two first round picks to Chicago for inOctober 2005, scored 14 points in the first half when the Knicksrallied from a six-point deficit and took a 40-38 lead athalftime.