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Thursday, Mar. 2 7:30pm ET
'Knicks of old' overwhelm Milwaukee | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
NEW YORK (AP) -- It wasn't Latrell Sprewell's third-quarter outburst or Ray Allen's first-quarter flurry that changed the game. It may have been Chris Childs diving on the floor after loose balls twice during the second quarter. "You could see it in their eyes after that. They knew that the old Knicks were back," Childs said after New York used a phenomenal third-quarter rally to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 109-94 Thursday night. Childs' hustle earned him a spot in the starting lineup when the second half began, and Sprewell scored 18 of his season-high tying 32 points during an ensuing outburst in which Childs, too, was unstoppable. Sprewell shot 8-for-9 and Childs scored all 13 of his points in the third quarter as the Knicks shot 15-for-20 and outscored the Bucks 36-17 to turn a six-point halftime deficit into a 13-point lead. Sprewell tied his season high on a jumper with 8:20 left for a 95-78 lead, then left for good with just under seven minutes left. Allan Houston added 24 points for the Knicks, who completed a sweep of the four-game season series against the Bucks. "I thought Childs was the one guy in the first half who gave us some energy," coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "He played extremely hard, whereas I didn't think many guys on our team played well defensively in the first half." It was a game of individual hot streaks, with Sprewell's outburst preceded by a 17-point first quarter by Allen. Allen made eight of nine shots and scored 17 of Milwaukee's first 23 points, but the Bucks stopped looking for him in the second quarter after they built a 13-point lead. The Knicks pulled to 55-49 by halftime as Houston had 18 first-half points, and Sprewell and Childs took over from there by scoring 31 of the Knicks' 36 points in one of their most polished quarters of the season. The Knicks improved to 5-1 when Sprewell scores 30 or more points and 12-1 when the team scores 100 or more. Tim Thomas scored a season-high 26 points and Allen had 25 to lead the struggling Bucks, who lost for the ninth time in 11 games to drop two games below .500. Glenn Robinson shot just 3-for-12 for eight points, while Sam Cassell was 2-for-10 from the field for eight points. "There have been some games in this streak where I haven't been happy with the effort, but I was happy with the effort tonight," Bucks coach George Karl said. "That's the best I've seen them (the Knicks) shoot the ball in a long time." Sprewell hit seven jumpers and one layup in the third quarter, while Childs went 3-for-3 on 3-pointers -- including the Knicks' final two baskets of the period to make the score 85-72 entering the fourth quarter. Larry Johnson hit consecutive 3-pointers late in the period to increase the Knicks' lead to 109-87. Game notesSprewell also scored 32 on Jan. 30 against Sacramento. ... Childs also had a season-high 10 assists. ... Bucks forward Danny Manning strained his right knee in the first half and did not return. ... Mirsad Turkcan, waived by the Knicks on Feb. 9, played the final 52 seconds of the first half, made his only shot and committed a goaltending violation. He finished with six points in five minutes. ... Knicks forward Marcus Camby, sidelined since Feb. 6 with a knee injury, is aiming to return Sunday vs. Utah. ... Etdrick Bohannon, playing on his second 10-day contract, made his Knicks debut with two minutes of garbage time. He did not score. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Milwaukee Clubhouse New York Clubhouse RECAPS Philadelphia 87 Washington 84
New York 109
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