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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
NEW YORK (AP) – For the third consecutive game, the reserves made
such a difference for the New York Knicks that some of them might
not be reserves much longer.
|  | | Washington's Laron Profit, front, tries to find a way around New York's Mark Jackson. |
Glen Rice scored 18 points on 8-for-9 shooting and Charlie Ward
made several huge plays down the stretch as the New York Knicks
closed the game with a 19-2 run for a tougher-than-expected 93-80
victory Thursday night over the Washington Wizards.
Starters Mark Jackson and Larry Johnson spent the entire fourth
quarter on the bench, and Latrell Sprewell sat out the final 8½
minutes. With just seven games left in the regular season, coach
Jeff Van Gundy is contemplating changes to his lineup.
"I'm very, very concerned. So while it wasn't even in the back
of my mind, it's in the neighborhood (now)," Van Gundy said.
After falling behind 78-74 with 7:48 left, the Knicks scored 19
of the game's final 21 points to win their third in a row and move
a half-game ahead of fourth-place Miami in the Eastern Conference
playoff race.
Marcus Camby finished with 16 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks -- both of which came in the final minute. Allan Houston added 23
points.
"We definitely could have done a better job than we did," Rice
said. "We let them hang around too long, and we've got to realize
that we can't keep allowing teams to do that."
Richard Hamilton scored 31 and Courtney Alexander added 22 for
Washington.
Camby was 7-for-11 from the field and Houston was 10-for-14 as
the Knicks shot 55 percent and improved to 15-0 when making at
least half of their shots.
The Knicks went ahead by 13 when Camby dunked a deflected shot
by Mark Jackson with 7:08 left in the third quarter, but Washington
closed the quarter with an 18-2 run and took a 70-67 lead into the
fourth after Alexander banked in a 3-pointer with less than a
second left.
A jumper by Christian Laettner gave the Wizards a 78-74 lead
with 7:48 left, but that would be Washington's final field goal of
the game. The Wizards' only points the rest of the way came on two
foul shots by Hamilton with 1:37 left to pull the Wizards to 83-80.
Houston followed with a jumper, Camby blocked a shot by Jahidi
White, Rice hit a 3 and Camby had another block before Charlie Ward
hit a 3-pointer with 24.5 seconds left to give the Knicks an
11-point lead.
"Things started to happen fast. A tip-in, a dunk, a couple of
3-pointers and that was the ballgame," Camby said.
After playing to a 22-22 tie in the first quarter, Rice hit all
five of his shots in the second quarter to help the Knicks
gradually pull away to a 50-40 halftime lead.
Game notes
New York swept the season series 4-0. ... A tribute was
held at halftime in honor of broadcaster Marty Glickman, the radio
voice of the Knicks from 1956-70 who was 83 when he died in
January. The Knicks have renamed their radio booth in honor of
Glickman. ... Knicks forward Larry Johnson, who has remained a
starter despite his lack of production since coming back from a
back injury seven games ago, had just five points and three
rebounds in 23 minutes. Two of his points came when a pass by
Sprewell deflected off Laettner's hand and went straight
into the basket. Johnson got credit because he was closest to the
hoop. ... Washington's reserves were outscored 35-5.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Washington Clubhouse
New York Clubhouse
RECAPS
New York 93
Washington 80
Sacramento 92
Utah 86
LA Lakers 100
Chicago 88
Dallas 108
Atlanta 94
Houston 91
Seattle 88
San Antonio 101
Denver 80
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