Knicks 113
Wizards 92
As Larry Brown walked down a crowded hallway in the bowels of the Garden, receiving congratulations, the Knick coach cracked, “Break up the Knicks.”
The Knicks can breathe again and joke again. Team president Isiah Thomas and James Dolan strode out of the Garden together, all smiles, after the Knicks clobbered the Wizards, 113-92, to remain unbeaten (2-0) in 2006 – 9-21 overall.
They’re out of disaster mode after posting their second two-game winning streak of the season – first was Nov. 13-14 when they won back-to-back road games in Sacramento and Utah.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Brown.
Thomas had reason to beam, his lottery pick of Channing Frye dropping a game-high 30 points in 26 minutes off the bench, making 11 of 13 shots, combining jump shots with driving dunks.
Brown, whose club outlasted Phoenix in triple OT Monday night, is figuring out his rotation, his starting lineup, and the Knicks are figuring out how to play for him.
Frye was super in the second half, punctuating his season’s second 30-point game by blowing past Antawn Jamison for a vicious driving rightanded dunk on Gilbert Arenas to put the Knicks up 90-71 with 9:05 left.
But it’s really Stephon Marbury infusing the Knicks back to life and Brown raved about him. Since the Orlando fiasco 10 days ago when Marbury played like a zombie, he’s strung together three straight bangup games and heard rousing cheers when taken out with 49.8 seconds left in the third period.
Marbury finished with 16 points and 11 assists with one turnover, a calming influence to his wild backcourt mate Nate Robinson, who had five turnovers in the first half.
“Steph was great, he controlled he game, got the ball to the right people,” Brown said. “Every shot he took was a good one. And one turnover for a guy who has the ball the whole time?”
And the moribund Sonics play the Garden tomorrow as the Knicks have a great chance to own a season-high three-game winning streak.
“Undefeated in 2006,” rookie David Lee shouted.
On opening night at the Garden, the Wizards came in and ransacked the joint. Two months later, the Knicks were superior and bombarded the Wizards in the second half, 61-41.
With Jamal Crawford (foot) and Quentin Richardson (back) out, Brown used a nine-man rotation for the first time, until the late stages of garbage time.
Brown is sticking with the starting lineup of Marbury-Robinson-Lee-Antonio Davis-Eddy Curry. Even banished Trevor Ariza got a good run because of the injuries and was as active as he had been in weeks. Ariza, first man off the bench, saved a ball out of bounds, broke downcourt for a fastbreak dunk and also had a putback slam. He had eight points, six boards in 29 minutes.
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Marbury got clipped in the knee late in the third quarter and seemed in pain on the bench late in the fourth. He said he was “fine.”
Jerome James, released from his suspension, promised to change for the New Year, though he got a DNP.
“My New Year’s resolution is come out and be positive,” James said. “I have to be a leader to the young guys and be a tool that Larry Brown can use.”
James’ New Year couldn’t have started worse. On New Year’s morning, James was in no condition to compete in an NBA practice, according to a club official.
Brown refused to go into detail.
“It wasn’t harsh,” Brown said of the punishment. “You have to know what it is to say that. He doesn’t think it’s harsh.”