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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
SEATTLE (AP) -- It was the Marcus Camby of old who led the New
York Knicks to a 110-95 romp over the Seattle SuperSonics on
Wednesday night.
The Knicks (44-27) stayed within half-game of the Miami Heat in
the battle for the Atlantic Division title. The Seattle SuperSonics
continued their late season nosedive as they dropped their fifth
straight home game.
Camby, one of New York's stars in the Knicks' run to the NBA Finals
last year, had 18 points and a career-high 19 rebounds and Allan
Houston had 19 points as the Knicks improved to 2-1 on their
current five-game road trip.
"He was great," Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy said of Camby.
"He took charges, he rebounded. He really played well."
Camby said he and the Knicks had some incentive because the
Sonics outrebounded the Knicks in their first meeting on Jan. 24.
"We made a conscious effort of hitting the boards and getting
some easy buckets that way," Camby said. "It was a great win
considering the way we started, but we can't afford any letdowns."
The Knicks play the Vancouver Grizzlies Friday night before
meeting the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday in Los Angeles.
The Sonics equaled their third-longest home losing streak in
franchise history.
Latrell Sprewell surpassed the 10,000-point mark in his career when he stole the ball and drove half the court for a layup and a
102-82 Knicks lead with 4:15 left. He has 10,001 career points
after finishing with 18 points.
"Once we got going, we never looked back," Sprewell said.
Gary Payton led the Sonics with 21 points. Reserve Rashard Lewis
added 18.
The loss dropped the Sonics two games behind the Sacramento
Kings in the loss column in the race for seventh place in the
Western Conference.
The Knicks pounded the Sonics 57-30 on the boards. Camby was
8-for-13 from the field as New York dominated Seattle inside,
outscoring the Sonics 44-32 in the paint.
"Their front line dominated us," Sonics coach Paul Westphal said. "Then Camby came in and obliterated us."
Westphal was disappointed in his team's effort.
"We weren't boxing out on the boards and they were going after
the ball harder than we were," he said.
Payton was hounded all night by the Knicks defense, shot
8-for-22 from the field and had 10 assists and three steals. Vin
Baker had 15 points for the Sonics, but only four rebounds.
Payton didn't talk to the media after the game. Baker had a
terse "no comment."
Payton's 3-point play trimmed the Knicks' lead to 75-69. The
Knicks closed the quarter with a 9-2 run led by Camby's five points
for an 84-71 lead after three quarters.
Seattle trimmed the deficit to 71-66, but then failed to score
on four consecutive possessions as Shammond Williams missed three
straight perimeter shots.
The Knicks took a 67-54 lead with 7:40 left in the third period
when Baker inadvertently tapped in Larry Johnson's miss while
trying to rebound the ball.
Patrick Ewing scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half.
After Brent Barry's 3-point play trimmed the deficit to 48-46,
Houston scored five of the Knicks' eight straight points for a
56-46 lead. New York led 59-49 at halftime.
Game notes Horace Grant, who was hurt breaking up a fight between
Payton and Vernon Maxwell during practice Sunday, wore a padded wrap on the top of his left shoulder. ...Ward, who averages 7.5 points per game, had 11 in the opening quarter on 4-for-4 shooting.
...Williams scored a career-best 24 points against the Knicks on
Jan. 24. He couldn't find the range this time, missing all five of
his shots against the Knicks.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
New York Clubhouse
Seattle Clubhouse
RECAPS
Denver 101 Washington 93
Charlotte 98 Detroit 91
Cleveland 86 Chicago 81
Utah 98 Philadelphia 84
New York 110 Seattle 95
LA Lakers 108 Vancouver 99
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