GAME THREAD: NBA: SEATTLE (5-17) at NEW YORK (6-14)

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NBA: SEATTLE (5-17) at NEW YORK (6-14)

<h3>Knicks welcome Durant, Sonics</h3>

Seattle (5-17) at New York (6-14) 7:30 pm EST


NEW YORK (Ticker) -- New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas has saidthat he and his team will not go down without a fight. With alltheir off-court problems, the Knicks must be looking forward toa battle against one of the NBA's worst teams.


The embattled Thomas and the struggling Knicks aim to avoidtheir fourth straight loss Wednesday when they host rookiephenom Kevin Durant and the Seattle SuperSonics.


Off to a horrendous start in the standings, the Knicks have hadan even tougher season off the court, where Thomas and teamowner James Dolan have been making negative headlines since thesummer.


Thomas and Madison Square Garden reached an $11.5 millionsettlement out of court Monday with a former team executive, acostly end to an embarrassing legal saga which included a sexualharrassment lawsuit and trial this offseason.


A day later, Thomas vowed that he would not walk away from hisjob with the Knicks.


"I fight until I die," Thomas told reporters Tuesday. "It's notabout giving up or quitting. To me, it's win or die - and Iliterally mean death."


Thomas hopes to see some signs of life from the Knicks, whodropped a 99-89 decision Monday to the Dallas Mavericks - theirthird straight double-digit loss.


Zach Randolph scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for theKnicks, who have dropped 13 of their last 17 contests in aseason marred by controversy and in-fighting.


New York surprisingly has played slightly better than theSonics, who enter with the second-worst record in the NBA.

Seattle dropped its second straight contest Tuesday, a 123-96loss to the Chicago Bulls.


The second overall pick in this year's draft, Durant scored 16points and leads all rookies in scoring at 20.3 points per game.

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">SEATTLE AT NEW YORK - PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS


SEATTLE NEW YORK

F Chris Wilcox F Quentin Richardson
F Damien Wilkins F Zach Randolph
C Kurt Thomas C Eddy Curry
G Earl Watson G Jamal Crawford
G Kevin Durant G Fred Jones

OFFICIALS: Bob Delaney
Derrick Stafford
Phil Robinson</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">SEATTLE VS NEW YORK - INACTIVES

SEATTLE NEW YORK

PLAYER NAME REASON PLAYER NAME REASON
D WEST PLANTAR FASCITIS, RI S MARBURY PERSONAL REASONS
R SWIFT RIGHT KNEE TENDINITI J JAMES LEFT KNEE TENDINITIS</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA SEATTLE 7
NEW YORK 8 8:56 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>

 

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NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA SEATTLE 15
NEW YORK 15 5:59 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA SEATTLE 22
NEW YORK 24 2:45 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>

 

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NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA SEATTLE 27
NEW YORK 31 END, 1ST QTR</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA END 1ST QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
SEATTLE 27 27
NEW YORK 31 31 END 1ST QTR

HIGH SCORERS AFTER 1ST QUARTER

SEA - LUKE RIDNOUR 5, CHRIS WILCOX 5, KEVIN
DURANT 4
NYK - ZACH RANDOLPH 8, JAMAL CRAWFORD 6,
QUENTIN RICHARDSON 6</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA SEATTLE 32
NEW YORK 39 8:57 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA SEATTLE 39
NEW YORK 45 5:47 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA SEATTLE 44
NEW YORK 51 3:12 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA SEATTLE 53
NEW YORK 56 HALFTIME</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA HALFTIME 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
SEATTLE 27 26 53
NEW YORK 31 25 56 HALFTIME

HIGH SCORERS AT HALFTIME

SEA - KEVIN DURANT 11, JEFF GREEN 10, WALLY
SZCZERBIAK 8
NYK - NATE ROBINSON 12, ZACH RANDOLPH 10, EDDY
CURRY 10</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA SEATTLE 61
NEW YORK 60 8:50 LEFT, 3RD QTR</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA SEATTLE 71
NEW YORK 70 5:32 LEFT, 3RD QTR</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA SEATTLE 75
NEW YORK 75 3:10 LEFT, 3RD QTR</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA SEATTLE 83
NEW YORK 79 END, 3RD QTR</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA END 3RD QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
SEATTLE 27 26 30 83
NEW YORK 31 25 23 79 END 3RD QTR

HIGH SCORERS AFTER 3RD QUARTER

SEA - KEVIN DURANT 21, JEFF GREEN 13, THREE
PLAYERS WITH 10
NYK - ZACH RANDOLPH 18, JAMAL CRAWFORD 17,
THREE PLAYERS WITH 12</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA SEATTLE 88
NEW YORK 88 8:56 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA SEATTLE 96
NEW YORK 95 6:11 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA SEATTLE 105
NEW YORK 103 2:43 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA SEATTLE 117
NEW YORK 110 FINAL</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">NBA FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
SEATTLE 27 26 30 34 117
NEW YORK 31 25 23 31 110 FINAL

HIGH SCORERS: SEA - KEVIN DURANT 30, JEFF GREEN 17, LUKE
RIDNOUR 12
NYK - JAMAL CRAWFORD 29, ZACH RANDOLPH 27,
DAVID LEE 16</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NBA
SEATTLE 117
NEW YORK 110 FINAL</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

By Larry Fleisher
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Before the game, Seattle SuperSonics coachP.J. Carlesimo was praising his team's resiliency. In the finalminutes, they proved him right.


Rookie Kevin Durant scored 19 of his 30 points in the secondhalf, including a vicious dunk in the final minutes, as theSuperSonics posted an 117-110 victory over the New York Knickson Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.


Fellow rookie Jeff Green added 17 points for Seattle, whichimproved to 6-17 despite getting outrebounded, 47-36. The winwas also a nice turnaround from Tuesday's 27-point loss inChicago.


The SuperSonics shot 49 percent in that one and were even betterin this one, finishing at a scorching 58 percent (47-of-81).Despite its finest shooting performance of the season, Seattletrailed for most of the game before taking over in the third.

After the Knicks cut the lead to two with 2 1/2 minutes left,the Sonics finished the game on a 12-7 run - highlighted byDurant's swooping baseline jam to make it 114-108 with 56.6left, effectively letting the air out of the Knicks and theirMSG crowd.


Instead of allowing the Knicks to pull away, the Sonics cuttheir deficit to three before Durant took over in a thirdquarter that featured seven lead changes and three ties.

Durant scored 10 points in the quarter, but the Sonics did notgrab the lead until Luke Ridnour's 3-pointer snapped a 75-75 tiewith 2:16 remaining. Seattle took an 83-79 edge into thefourth but lost the lead when Jamal Crawford converted athree-point play with 7:39 remaining.


Green restored it with a running bank shot on Seattle's nextpossession and then Ridnour put Seattle up 96-93 with a jumper.The Sonics almost lost the lead but Green made a tremendousblock on Crawford with 5:18 left before scoring on the otherend.


Durant, who shot 11-of-20 from the field after a 3-of-8 start,followed with a 3-pointer for a 103-97 lead. The Knicksanswered with a spurt and were within 105-103 following a basketby Zach Randolph with just under three minutes remaining -setting up the final run.


Crawford scored 29 points and Randolph collected 27 and 16rebounds for the Knicks, who dropped their fourth straight gameand fell to 6-14.


The Knicks played the game with point guard Stephon Marbury, whosat out following the death of his father. They also loststarting forward Quentin Richardson to a right knee injury inthe second quarter.

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">SEATTLE (117) AT NEW YORK (110)

SEATTLE

REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS
====== === === ======= ======= =========== === == == == ===

E WATSON G 28:02 5-9 1-2 0 5 5 4 2 2 1 11
K DURANT G 35:16 11-20 7-9 1 4 5 4 1 2 3 30
D WILKINS F 24:41 3-6 0-0 0 2 2 2 1 2 0 6
C WILCOX F 19:14 3-7 2-4 1 4 5 0 4 0 2 8
K THOMAS C 30:13 3-6 3-3 4 4 8 0 3 1 0 9
N COLLISON 29:57 5-7 0-0 1 3 4 2 4 1 1 10
J GREEN 27:55 7-14 3-6 1 4 5 3 1 0 0 17
W SZCZERBIAK 24:12 4-6 2-2 0 1 1 2 1 1 1 12
L RIDNOUR 17:10 5-5 0-0 0 1 1 3 4 0 2 12
M GELABALE 3:20 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2

TOTALS 240:00 47-81 18-26 8 28 36 20 21 9 11 117
(.580) (.692) TEAM REBS: 4 TOTAL TO: 12 (0 PTS)

NEW YORK

REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS
====== === === ======= ======= =========== === == == == ===

F JONES G 31:56 1-5 0-0 0 3 3 2 4 1 1 2
J CRAWFORD G 41:35 11-22 4-4 0 3 3 6 5 1 4 29
Q RICHARDSON F 12:21 2-6 0-2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 6
Z RANDOLPH F 42:22 11-18 5-6 6 10 16 4 4 0 3 27
E CURRY C 24:04 6-11 0-0 3 3 6 1 1 0 1 12
D LEE 32:23 7-11 2-2 3 4 7 1 0 1 2 16
N ROBINSON 25:41 5-17 1-2 2 1 3 2 5 1 2 12
J JEFFRIES 23:56 2-4 2-4 5 3 8 1 3 2 1 6
R BALKMAN 5:42 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

TOTALS 240:00 45-95 14-20 19 28 47 17 22 6 14 110
(.474) (.700) TEAM REBS: 10 TOTAL TO: 14 (0 PTS)

SEATTLE 27 26 30 34 - 117
NEW YORK 31 25 23 31 - 110

BLOCKED SHOTS: SEATTLE - K THOMAS 2, J GREEN. NEW YORK - D LEE.
3-PT. FIELD GOALS: SEATTLE 5-12 (.417), E WATSON 0-1, K DURANT 1-5,
D WILKINS 0-1, W SZCZERBIAK 2-3, L RIDNOUR 2-2. NEW YORK 6-21 (.286),
F JONES 0-2, J CRAWFORD 3-6, Q RICHARDSON 2-5, N ROBINSON 1-8.
TECHNICAL FOULS: NONE.
FLAGRANT FOULS: NONE.
OFFICIALS: BOB DELANEY, DERRICK STAFFORD, PHIL ROBINSON.
A - 17,637. T - 2:14.</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

NBA: SEATTLE at NEW YORK

<div class="pre">SEATTLE (117)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
E Watson 28:02 5-9 1-2 0-5 4 2 11
K Durant 35:16 11-20 7-9 1-5 4 1 30
D Wilkins 24:41 3-6 0-0 0-2 2 1 6
C Wilcox 19:14 3-7 2-4 1-5 0 4 8
K Thomas 30:13 3-6 3-3 4-8 0 3 9
N Collison 29:57 5-7 0-0 1-4 2 4 10
J Green 27:55 7-14 3-6 1-5 3 1 17
W Szczerbiak 24:12 4-6 2-2 0-1 2 1 12
L Ridnour 17:10 5-5 0-0 0-1 3 4 12
M Gelabale 3:20 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 2

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 47-81 18-26 8-36 20 21 117
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.580, FT-.692. 3-Point Goals:
5-12, .417 (E Watson 0-1, K Durant 1-5, D
Wilkins 0-1, W Szczerbiak 2-3, L Ridnour
2-2). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots:3 (K
Thomas 2, J Green). Turnovers:11 (K Durant 3,
L Ridnour 2, C Wilcox 2, W Szczerbiak, M
Gelabale, N Collison, E Watson). Steals: 9 (E
Watson 2, D Wilkins 2, K Durant 2, K Thomas,
N Collison, W Szczerbiak).


NEW YORK (110)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
F Jones 31:56 1-5 0-0 0-3 2 4 2
J Crawford 41:35 11-22 4-4 0-3 6 5 29
Q Richardson 12:21 2-6 0-2 0-1 0 0 6
Z Randolph 42:22 11-18 5-6 6-16 4 4 27
E Curry 24:04 6-11 0-0 3-6 1 1 12
D Lee 32:23 7-11 2-2 3-7 1 0 16
N Robinson 25:41 5-17 1-2 2-3 2 5 12
J Jeffries 23:56 2-4 2-4 5-8 1 3 6
R Balkman 5:42 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 45-95 14-20 19-47 17 22 110
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.474, FT-.700. 3-Point Goals:
6-21, .286 (F Jones 0-2, J Crawford 3-6, Q
Richardson 2-5, N Robinson 1-8). Team
Rebounds: 10. Blocked Shots:1 (D Lee).
Turnovers:14 (J Crawford 4, Z Randolph 3, D
Lee 2, N Robinson 2, E Curry, F Jones, J
Jeffries). Steals: 6 (J Jeffries 2, J
Crawford, D Lee, N Robinson, F Jones).

--------------------------------------------
SEATTLE 27 26 30 34 - 117
NEW YORK 31 25 23 31 - 110
--------------------------------------------

Technical fouls: None.
Flagrant fouls: None. A: 17,637. T: 2:14.
Officials: Bob Delaney, Derrick Stafford,
Phil Robinson.</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

By Larry Fleisher
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Before the game, Seattle SuperSonics coachP.J. Carlesimo was praising his team's resiliency. In the finalminutes, they proved him right.


Rookie Kevin Durant scored 19 of his 30 points in the secondhalf, including a vicious dunk in the final minutes, as theSuperSonics posted an 117-110 victory over the New York Knickson Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.


Fellow rookie Jeff Green added 17 points for Seattle, whichimproved to 6-17 despite getting outrebounded, 47-36. The winwas also a nice turnaround from Tuesday's 27-point loss inChicago.


"I think we all were in a groove tonight," Durant said. "Wejust have to bring it every night."


The SuperSonics shot 49 percent in that one and were even betterin this one, finishing at a scorching 58 percent (47-of-81).Despite its finest shooting performance of the season, Seattletrailed for most of the game before taking over in the third.

But the Knicks cut the lead to two with 2 1/2 minutes leftin the fourth before the Sonics finished the game on a 12-7 run- highlighted by Durant's swooping baseline jam to make it 114-108with 56.6 left, effectively letting the air out of the Knicks and theirMSG crowd.


"We can't let these wins, I mean potential wins, get away fromus," Knicks guard Jamal Crawford said. "Everybody is prettyfrustrated; we want to win. We are very disappointed and wecan't let games like this get away from us, especially when weare in it until the last two or three minutes."


"I thought he was awfully impressive," Carlesimo said of Durant."He looks more and more comfortable. He made a mistake late,but again he was very composed. I thought he played with a lotof poise. The one thing that has been consistent is that he hasbeen very good in the fourth quarters. He is pretty good.There isn't a lot of coaching with that. He is a pretty goodbasketball player."


Durant was more humble about his play at the end of the game.

"I was trying to go up and get the foul," Durant said of hiscrucial dunk. "I saw the rim and I just wanted to finish."

Instead of allowing the Knicks to pull away, the Sonics cuttheir deficit to three before Durant took over in a thirdquarter that featured seven lead changes and three ties.

"It is amazing to see a big guy, 6-9 or 6-10, the way (Durant)can shoot the ball from outside the way he can put the ball onthe floor," teammate Kurt Thomas said. "He is almost 7-feet.The way he moves on the floor is definitely amazing."

Durant scored 10 points in the quarter, but the Sonics did notgrab the lead until Luke Ridnour's 3-pointer snapped a 75-75 tiewith 2:16 remaining. Seattle took an 83-79 edge into thefourth but lost the lead when Crawford converted a three-pointplay with 7:39 remaining.


Green restored it with a running bank shot on Seattle's nextpossession and then Ridnour put Seattle up 96-93 with a jumper.The Sonics almost lost the lead but Green made a tremendousblock on Crawford with 5:18 left before scoring on the otherend.


Durant, who shot 11-of-20 from the field after a 3-of-8 start,followed with a 3-pointer for a 103-97 lead. The Knicksanswered with a spurt and were within 105-103 following a basketby Zach Randolph with just under three minutes remaining -setting up the final run.


"I thought we had enough effort," Knicks coach Isiah Thomassaid. "We didn't have enough good play. We can have effort butwe didn't have good play. We didn't have smart play. The statsheet is kind of deceiving from a rebounding and a turnoverstandpoint.


"We only had 14 turnovers, but they scored 27 points off of ourturnovers. They were bad turnovers. When you have a team outin transition, making layups, it is kind of difficult to makestops we need to make."


Crawford scored 29 points and Randolph collected 27 and 16rebounds for the Knicks, who dropped their fourth straight gameand fell to 6-15.


Eddy Curry had just 12 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes forNew York. Thomas was more upset with his lackluster defense.

"Right now, I think, you look at his offensive output, he was6-of-11 and he had six rebounds in 24 minutes," the coach said."That is a good stat line but, defensively, we need him toeffect the game more defensively, and he has to be able to dothat for us.


"If he can do that, he can stay on the floor longer. When youare just giving up baskets and trading baskets, that just makesit difficult."


The Knicks played the game with point guard Stephon Marbury, whosat out following the death of his father. They also loststarting forward Quentin Richardson to a right knee injury inthe second quarter.


Despite not having his full compliment of players in this one,Thomas admitted that some changes may need to be made based onthe team's recent play.


"You give it some thought, however again, if things do change itwill be a conversation we have with the players before I haveit with you (the media) out of respect," Thomas said. "I am notgoing to come in here after a loss, tell you I am going to bechanging things before I have said it to the players.

"We definitely have to re-group. We are not playing goodbasketball. We are not a good team and we have to get better."

 

[SportsTicker]

By Larry Fleisher
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Before the game, Seattle SuperSonics coachP.J. Carlesimo was praising his team's resiliency. In the finalminutes, they proved him right.


Rookie Kevin Durant scored 19 of his 30 points in the secondhalf, including a vicious dunk in the final minutes, as theSuperSonics posted an 117-110 victory over the New York Knickson Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.


Fellow rookie Jeff Green added 17 points for Seattle, whichimproved to 6-17 despite getting outrebounded, 47-36. The winwas also a nice turnaround from Tuesday's 27-point loss inChicago.


The victory also came after Seattle did not land in New Yorkuntil four in the morning and was not able to have a morningshootaround.


The final three minutes in which the SuperSonics held the Knicksto five points on one basket were also an improvement fromearlier in the season when many fourth quarters were troublesomeaspects of the game.


"Before the game, someone asked me what's the most impressivething about this team, and that's what I said," Carlesimo said."That's the third or fourth time we've done it where we've hada real disappointing game and the next night in a situationthat doesn't really make sense, we come back and do a greatjob."


"When we started out, the fourth quarter was the quarter thatwe've been letting go, playing lackadasicial," Green said. "Thefourth quarter has been very big, so tonight we showed(improvement) by getting stops, getting charges, gettingoffensive fouls and getting offensive rebounds and that's usgetting better as team."


They were able to get the victory by contributions from playersother than Durant and Green as six players finished in doublefigures, including four reserves.


Wally Szczerbiak and Luke Ridnour each scored 12, Earl Watsonhad 11 and Nick Collison finished with 10 while former KnickKurt Thomas scored five in the final 2:31.


"You could go right down the line and say good things aboutevery guy on the team," Carlesimo said. "The big thing was wegot energy. We got in at four o'clock in the morning but weplayed with energy tonight. We played with a little bit morepassion."


The SuperSonics shot 49 percent in their last contest and wereeven better in this one, finishing at a scorching 58 percent(47-of-81). Despite its finest shooting performance of theseason, Seattle trailed for most of the game before taking thelead in the third.


After the Knicks cut the lead to two with 2 1/2 minutes left,the Sonics finished the game on a 12-7 run - highlighted byDurant's swooping baseline jam to make it 114-108 with 56.6left, effectively letting the air out of the Knicks and theirMSG crowd.


The run was set up by little things such as Thomas getting anoffensive rebound and converting a three-point play as well asCollison and Thomas drawing charges in the final minutes.

"They did a great job of coming out and putting good pressure onus," Durant said. "I would say that we came out hard on thedefensive end and got some key plays and the biggest plays werethe two charges. And, obviously, Kurt getting the offensiverebound for the and one - that was the biggest play of the game.I think that if we make big plays like that in the fourthquarter, we'll be all right."


Instead of allowing the Knicks to pull away, the Sonics cuttheir deficit to three before Durant took over in a thirdquarter that featured seven lead changes and three ties.

Durant scored 10 points in the quarter, but the Sonics did notgrab the lead until Ridnour's 3-pointer snapped a 75-75 tie with2:16 remaining. Seattle took an 83-79 edge into the fourth butlost the lead when Jamal Crawford converted a three-point playwith 7:39 remaining.


Green restored it with a running bank shot on Seattle's nextpossession and then Ridnour put Seattle up 96-93 with a jumper.The Sonics almost lost the lead but Green made a tremendousblock on Crawford with 5:18 left before scoring on the otherend.


Durant, who shot 11-of-20 from the field after a 3-of-8 start,followed with a 3-pointer for a 103-97 lead. The Knicksanswered with a spurt and were within 105-103 following a basketby Zach Randolph with just under three minutes remaining -setting up the final run.


"For us, especially getting in real late last night and playingterrible last night, this is good for us, just to show ourcharacter," Ridnour said. "(We) keep fighting no matter whatour record is and what the circumstances."


Crawford scored 29 points and Randolph collected 27 and 16rebounds for the Knicks, who dropped their fourth straight gameand fell to 6-14.


"I thought tonight, we had a great chance to get that victory,"New York forward David Lee said. "We just didn't take care ofbusiness. I thought we played good ball in the first half.

"We put ourselves in position for a victory. Unfortunately,like I've been telling you guys, we've been coming up short andit's not the big things that are killing us. It's the littlethings here and there."


The Knicks played the game without point guard Stephon Marbury,who sat out following the death of his father. They also loststarting forward Quentin Richardson to a right knee injury inthe second quarter.


While the Knicks avoided their fourth consecutive double-digitloss and 11th overall, they gave up a season high in points in aregulation game and allowed a team to shoot over 50 percent forthe sixth time.


They also allowed 64 second-half points as Seattle shot ablistering 67 percent (26-of-39) and converted 27 points off14 turnovers.


"I thought we had enough effort," coach Isiah Thomas said. "Wedidn't have enough good play. We can have effort but we didn'thave good play. We didn't have smart play."


Despite not having his full compliment of players in this one,Thomas admitted that some changes may need to be made based onthe team's recent play.


"You give it some thought, however again, if things do change itwill be a conversation we have with the players before I haveit with you (the media) out of respect," Thomas said. "I am notgoing to come in here after a loss, tell you I am going to bechanging things before I have said it to the players."

Eddy Curry had just 12 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes forNew York. Thomas was more upset with his lackluster defense.

"Right now, I think, you look at his offensive output, he was6-of-11 and he had six rebounds in 24 minutes," the coach said."That is a good stat line but, defensively, we need him toeffect the game more defensively, and he has to be able to dothat for us."