NBA Game Summary - Atlanta at New York

04.17.2005

New York, NY (Basketball News) - Tyronn Lue tied a career-high with 32 points, including six in overtime, to lead Atlanta to a 139-135 win over New York in a battle between two lottery-bound teams at Madison Square Garden.

Josh Childress added 22 points and 11 boards while Josh Smith had a career- high 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks, who halted a three-game losing streak and won for only the third time in their last 33 contests.

Boris Diaw-Riffiod netted a season-high 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the win.

Stephon Marbury netted 31 points and handed out nine assists for the Knicks, who had their two-game winning streak ended. Jamal Crawford also had 31 points and Tim Thomas contributed 26 in the setback.

In overtime, Crawford’s three-pointer with 3:22 left gave the Knicks a 125-122 edge, but Atlanta scored seven straight, capped by Lue’s driving layup, to claim a four-point edge with 1:27 left.

Crawford then stopped the run as he scored on a layup to make it 129-127, and after a miss, Crawford had a chance to give his club the lead, but missed a three-pointer. Lue then buried a three to make it 132-127 with 19.7 seconds remaining in OT.

The Knicks did get within 137-135 with 2.6 seconds left, but Diaw-Riffiod’s two free throws capped the scoring.

The free throws did not come without controversy, though, as it appeared Smith tried to call timeout on the inbounds, despite the fact that Atlanta did not have any remaining. The timeout call was luckily not seen by the officials and Diaw-Riffiod was then fouled where he sealed the win.

New York led by five points after three quarters, but the Hawks battled back to tie the score at 101-101 with just under six minutes left in the fourth. The Knicks then reeled off seven straight points, keyed by four from Mike Sweetney, to garner a seven-point edge with around 4 1/2 minutes left in regulation.

Atlanta, though, eventually tied the score at 116 apiece on Smith’s layup with around 1 1/2 minutes left in the fourth.

After each team scored, Crawford missed a deep three-pointer with eight seconds left in the fourth and after a scrum, the ball went out of bounds and the Knicks retained possession. Maurice Taylor, though, missed a jumper as time ran out to send the game into overtime.

Atlanta trailed 32-29 after one quarter, but took a 62-60 edge into the locker room. The Knicks held a 91-86 advantage after 36 minutes.

Lue also scored 32 points on March 26, 2004 against Indiana...The Hawks snapped a six-game road losing streak and won for just the fourth time in 40 games as the visitor this year (4-36)...Atlanta also put an end to a seven- game losing streak in the series and won for the first time in the last 11 matchups at Madison Square Garden...New York has lost five straight home games...The Knicks set a franchise-high by making 17 three-pointers, while Atlanta was 6-of-15 from behind the arc...Chelsea Cooley, who is Miss U.S.A 2005, was sitting courtside.

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