Wins have been rare for the struggling New York Knicks this season—except when they play former coach Larry Brown.
Wilson Chandler scored seven of his 19 points in the final 4 minutes, and the Knicks beat the Charlotte Bobcats 93-89 on Tuesday night to snap a six-game losing streak and improve to 2-0 against their ex-coach.
The Knicks recovered from blowing a 17-point lead and continued Brown’s woes with Charlotte in his record ninth NBA head coaching job. Brown had been out of the league for two years after being fired following a miserable 23-59 record in his only season with the Knicks in 2005-06.
“We’re going into the new year feeling good about ourselves,” said Al Harrington, who added 16 points and six rebounds in his second straight game coming off the bench. “We’re happy.”
Not so for Brown. After winning four of five games, the Bobcats have dropped consecutive home games against New Jersey and New York.
“We came out with no effort at all,” Brown said. “And after all that, we turned the ball over 19 times for 26 points. With all that being said, we had a chance to win the game.”
After dominating early, the Knicks went cold in the fourth quarter and the Bobcats took their first lead at 83-82 on Raymond Felton’s 3-pointer with 4:05 left.
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Chandler then took over.
He had a three-point play, hit a running one-hander and two free throws with 56 seconds left to give New York an 89-87 lead. Chandler then blocked Felton’s tying layup attempt before Chris Duhon and Nate Robinson hit four straight free throws.
“I’m not backing off what I told you before, that we can be a good team,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said. “It’s up to us to prove it.”
The Knicks also got 13 points and 16 rebounds from David Lee and showed defensive tenacity missing of late.
The Knicks had allowed at least 105 points in each of their games during their skid, but clamped down against the short-handed Bobcats, the NBA’s lowest-scoring team.
Starting shooting guard Raja Bell did not play because of a strained groin sustained against the Nets Saturday. That prevented Bell from playing against D’Antoni, his former coach in Phoenix. Bell and Boris Diaw were traded to Charlotte last month in a deal that sent Jason Richardson to the Suns.
Gerald Wallace scored 21 points and Diaw had 20 points, but also six turnovers.
“We should have won that game,” said Felton, who had 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting.
He was “trying to do too much,” according to Brown.
The first half was plagued by technical glitches that caused the shot clocks, game clocks, horn and scoreboards to malfunction. There was a stretch when the score and time weren’t displayed and a hand-held air horn was used to signal substitutions.
Brown, who lost to the Knicks in his return to New York last month, must have wished the score wasn’t being kept courtside.
D’Antoni’s latest tinkering with his lineup worked well early. Quentin Richardson was back in the starting five after a one-game absence, while Harrington came off the bench again. Tim Thomas, who did not practice Monday because of a sore toe, did not start.
The Knicks raced to a 15-4 lead before Harrington and Thomas came in and hit consecutive shots as the Knicks built a 28-12 edge.
“Good teams and good players, they come out every night ready to play, no matter if they’re playing the Boston Celtics or they’re playing the Oklahoma City whatever they are,” Wallace said. “I don’t think we do that.”
Matt Carroll started for Bell, and Brown used odd lineups. Even Adam Morrison—who hadn’t played in four of the past six games—played 13 minutes, but didn’t score and missed a 3-pointer in the final minute after Diaw fouled out.
Notes: Brown said he “begged” managing partner Michael Jordan to acquire Thomas before he was traded by the Clippers to the Knicks last month. “I’ve always loved him,” Brown said. … Knicks C Jared Jeffries had eight points and five rebounds. “He hasn’t played a lot and we’re losing. So if I’ve gotten everything out of him, we’re in trouble,” D’Antoni said before the game. … Bell said it was tough to adjust after D’Antoni left the Suns. “The situation in Phoenix had changed a lot and at the end of the day I don’t think I was in the plans there,” Bell said.
