Knicks 95, Kings 88

By CHRIS SHERIDAN
AP Basketball Writer
November 7, 2002

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Sacramento Kings headed home from a four-game trip with some unwanted baggage -- their first three-game losing streak in two seasons.

Lee Nailon scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter Wednesday night as the New York Knicks beat Sacramento 95-88.

The Kings never lost three straight games last season while compiling the league's best record, but losses to Miami, Orlando and New York have left them 3-3.

The Knicks, meanwhile, won for the first time after opening the season with four losses.

``I knew they hadn't won a game, and I hate playing teams that haven't won a game. They get up and play harder and smarter,'' Kings guard Bobby Jackson said.

The Knicks indeed played harder than the Kings. They came up with three steals in the final 42 seconds of the first half and closed the quarter with a 10-0 run, then got a big lift from Nailon down the stretch.

Allan Houston scored 21 and Charlie Ward and Shandon Anderson added 15 each for the Knicks, who had six players in double figures.

Chris Webber scored 22 and Peja Stojakovic 19 for the Kings.

``We got beat by a better team tonight,'' Webber said. ``That's as far as it goes, and it doesn't lead into how good we'll be all year. They played well. They deserved it.''

The Knicks' streak of fourth-quarter failures came to an end thanks to Nailon, who was signed after being released by the New Orleans Hornets late in the preseason.

A starter in 41 games for the Hornets when Jamal Mashburn was injured last season, Nailon was cut following an argument with Hornets coach Paul Silas during an exhibition game against Atlanta.

``Management had to make a decision. We had a lot of small forwards, and guys that tried to get traded couldn't get traded,'' Nailon said. ``I'm glad that I'm here, not there, because I'd be fighting for minutes and probably wouldn't be playing right now.''

Nailon scored New York's first six points of the fourth quarter and 10 of its first 12. The only Knicks basket by anyone else during that stretch was a powerful breakaway dunk by Shandon Anderson over the outstretched arm of Gerald Wallace.

The dunk fired up the crowd and led Sacramento coach Rick Adelman to call timeout with his team trailing 82-76. Anderson failed to convert a three-point play after the dunk, but Nailon kept the momentum on New York's side by hitting a corner jumper and a baseline drive to make it 86-77.

Houston scored between a pair of turnovers by Bobby Jackson, and a corner jumper by Houston made it 90-77 with 3:53 left.

Sacramento scored the next eight points before the Knicks got a break as the shot clock was mistakenly reset after Kurt Thomas had consecutive shots rejected. The extra time allowed the Knicks to run 45 seconds off the clock, and Thomas was credited with a field goal when Webber goaltended his shot with 1:01 left, making it 92-85.

The Kings' final chance ended when Stojakovic missed a reverse layup with 15seconds left with a chance to cut the Knicks' lead to three.

Notes

The Kings are 1-16 in New York since moving from Kansas City to Sacramento, their only victory coming in 1996. ... Sacramento's last three-game losing streak was Feb. 4-7, 2001. ... Keon Clark of the Kings sat out with a strained groin. ... After their first non-sellout in nearly a decade Mondaynight against Milwaukee, the Knicks once again had a full house of 19,763.

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