Knicks 92
Hawks 89
The usually unemotional Allan Houston skipped and jumped for joy after hitting the game-winning 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left last night at the Garden.
Nine games below .500, the Knicks aren’t skipping for joy into the All-Star break, but at least they avoided another disaster.
Barely.
What did you expect when the Knicks got up by 16 points in the second quarter? A comfortable victory?
Nonsense. Instead, it came down to Houston’s last-second 3-pointer that broke the tie and vaulted the Knicks over the Hawks 92-89, breaking a three-game slide.
“This is what dreams are made of, to hit a shot like that in Madison Square Garden,” said Houston, who finished with 32 points and nine rebounds. “You picture that when you’re sitting at home in the dark. Those are the shots I just want to have an opportunity to make.”
And Houston’s dance? “I’ll let you give it a name and I’ll do it again next time,” he said.
Just call it the $100 million waltz.
With the score tied at 89, after Atlanta’s Hanno Mottola recovered an offensive rebound with 32 seconds left, another Knick nightmare was unfolding. Jacque Vaughn hoisted an open 18-footer from the right side with 10 seconds left – a shot that would have sent the Knicks to their ninth defeat in games in which they’ve held a double-digit lead.
But the ball bounced off the rim, into Kurt Thomas’ hands. Thomas fed Charlie Ward, who galloped upcourt, to the top of the key and fed Houston on the right wing. Unlike the open 3-pointer he missed vs. the Clippers Tuesday that would have won the game, Houston splashed this one cleanly through.
After Mottola’s desperation heave from 35 feet from the left side grazed the backboard, the Knicks were spared a miserable three-day vacation as they attempt to distance themselves from their tumultuous pre-break season highlighted by Jeff Van Gundy’s resignation and Marcus Camby’s injuries.
“Going into the break we have a win,” Houston said. “It’s going to be a time for us to sit back and really re-energize ourselves mentally and physically and focus on how we’re going to really turn this season around going into the second half.”
Houston originally was snubbed for the East All-Stars but he or Latrell Sprewell could be named to replace Vince Carter, who was injured last night in the Raptors’ 80-74 overtime win over the Spurs.
Carter, the leading vote-getter for the game for the third straight year, was injured while driving to the basket with 1:31 left in the second quarter. He is expected to be sidelined at least 10 days.
Houston, who had 40 points vs. the Clips, has become the Knicks’ lone offensive dynamo as Sprewell, shooting 29 percent in his last eight home games, struggled with 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting.
Don Chaney flies today to his offseason home in Houston, trying to figure out a way to get the Knicks back in the race. The Knicks enter the break five games out of the final playoff spot with 35 games left.
“I don’t think it’s out of sight where we can’t focus in on it,” Chaney said. “It’s an attainable goal.”
“It’s just nice knowing we finished the break off with a win,” Spree said. “We cannot really worry about basketball, get our minds away from everything we’ve gone though in the first half and come back with the fire and passion it’s going to take to get us back in the race.”
The Knicks (19-28) will regroup Monday for practice in Orlando before facing the Magic Tuesday.
“I need a rest,” Chaney said. “I need to refocus myself. It’s good for everybody to step back and refocus on the season.”