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Tuesday, Jan. 11 7:30pm ET
Knicks blow 23 of 25-point lead | |||||
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
NEW YORK (AP) -- Of all the fourth-quarter leads the New York Knicks have blown this season, none was bigger than the one they threw away Tuesday night. On a night when Patrick Ewing could have sat out another fourth quarter and no one would have cared, the Knicks blew 23 points of a 25-point lead before their center returned and they hung on to beat the Chicago Bulls 95-88.
"We just stopped playing, on offense and on defense," Ewing said. "We blew them out and then relaxed. It's never over til it's over. It's the NBA. It's fantastic." Ewing could afford to chuckle at his own joke, but his coach was not in a similarly jovial mood. Clearly fuming as he made his post-game remarks, Jeff Van Gundy tried to explain a meltdown in which the Knicks led by 25 points entering the final quarter only to let the lead slip to two with 1:06 left after Chicago went on a 33-10 run. "You get what you deserve in this game. We deserved to be up by 25 and we deserved to almost lose the game," Van Gundy said. "It hasn't just been this year, it's been (happening) for a long time." With the fans at Madison Square Garden on the edge of their seats and the arena as loud as it was during Bulls-Knicks games of old, Larry Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 47 seconds left to put the Knicks back up by five. Elton Brand was called for traveling on Chicago's next possession, and Allan Houston hit a pair of foul shots with 35 seconds left to end any thought Chicago had of extending its surprising winning streak to four games. Johnson led the Knicks with 19 points, Houston had 15, Ewing had 14 points and 14 rebounds and Latrell Sprewell also scored 14. Ewing, who was benched by coach Jeff Van Gundy for the final 16 minutes of the Knicks' previous game -- a loss to Cleveland -- looked like he was going to have the luxury of kicking back in his chair to enjoy a rare blowout. But the Knicks, who have blown big leads in the fourth quarter at least a half-dozen times this season, let it happen again. A three-point play by Ron Artest cut the lead to 12 with 5:31 left, forcing Van Gundy to re-insert Ewing and Larry Johnson. Artest followed with a 3-pointer, Will Perdue dunked and Artest drove around Ewing for a layup that made it 86-81. Artest hit one of two free throws with 1:08 left to cut the deficit to four, and Brand grabbed the offensive rebound off Artest's miss and converted it to pull Chicago within two, 90-88, before the Knicks held on. "I'm proud of our effort," Bulls coach Tim Floyd said. New York improved to 10-4 since Ewing rejoined the team last month following his recovery from a partially torn Achilles tendon. Artest scored 24 and Brand had 22 to lead the Bulls, who were coming off back-to-back-to-back victories over the Wizards (twice) and Celtics -- a trio of wins that were mockingly called the Bulls' first three-peat since 1998. Ewing, who shot 2-for-8 from the field and 10-for-10 from the line, left the game with 3:47 remaining in the third quarter and New York ahead by 21. The Knicks eventually went ahead by 27 in the third quarter before Chicago mounted its comeback. Ewing gave the Knicks the lead for good on a seven-foot jumper with 2:13 left in the first quarter that made it 16-15. New York was ahead by seven by the end of the quarter and by 14 at halftime. Johnson had a pair of 3-pointers in the first 6½ minutes of the third quarter, the second of which put New York ahead 71-47. A tip-in by Houston made it 80-53 with 24 seconds left in the third, but the fun was just beginning.
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Chicago Clubhouse New York Clubhouse RECAPS Washington 117 Toronto 89
New York 95
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