Not only has Allan Houston proved able to co-exist with Latrell Sprewell, but he’s thriving. A few of Sprewell’s four assists yesterday went to Houston on the break, all-but breaking Atlanta’s back, helping Houston to 17 points that, it turns out, were almost as high as he is on the Knicks’ sixth man.
“He is the best player in transition I have ever played with,” Houston said of Spree. “I’ve learned from him how to get easy baskets. The more we can play together, the harder it is going to be to stop our team.”
Houston, coming off a 1-for-8 clunker in Game 2, after scoring 34 in the series opener, wasn’t too shabby himself yesterday, hitting 7 of his 14 shots, contributing to the ongoing series misery of Steve Smith, who needed 17 shots to score 17 points.
“As long as you try to make them tough, that’s all you can do,” said Houston, who was not as successful as Larry Johnson against the Hawks’ top gun.
“I was pleased with our mental approach tonight because this is a game where I think it takes a lot mental maturity to come out,” said Houston. “I think we learned from the past. We learned from the Miami series and we just didn’t want to go back to that.
“We’re starting to really pay attention to the details. And this is the time of year where your preparation really helps and takes over.
“So you can have that confidence or swagger or whatever, but unless you can actually go out there and execute and do the right things, confidence isn’t going to do everything for you.”