NBA Game Summary - New York at Indiana

03.7.2006

Indianapolis, IN (Basketball News) - Jamal Crawford scored all 16 of his points during the fourth stanza, as the New York Knicks pushed past the Indiana Pacers, 107-92, at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Crawford’s hot shooting highlighted a strong fourth quarter for the Knicks and Jalen Rose tallied a game-high 21 points to go along with eight assists in the victory. Eddy Curry added 15 points while Steve Francis posted 11 points and Stephon Marbury and Jackie Butler each donated 10 points in New York’s second consecutive victory. The Knicks snapped a six-game skid with a victory over Milwaukee on Saturday.

Stephen Jackson and Peja Stojakovic each netted 20 points for Indiana, David Harrison chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds and Anthony Johnson contributed 10 points and six assists. With the Pacers’ second loss in three games, the club dropped to 12-14 against sub-.500 opponents this season.

The fourth quarter proved to be the difference. All year long, head coach Larry Brown saw his team self-destruct as the game reached crunch time, but on this night the roles were reversed.

New York started the stanza on a 16-2 burst to put the game out of reach. Harrison’s tip-in was Indiana’s only field goal during the first 5 1/2 minutes and Crawford found his stroke. The guard buried consecutive threes to open the period and made five straight free throws to cap the run and push the Knicks to a 91-74 lead with 7:07 remaining.

The advantage eventually grew to 106-86 on David Lee’s layup with 1:04 to play as New York was never seriously threatened after the quarter-opening burst.

After a low-scoring opening 12 minutes concluded with Indiana holding an 18-12 advantage, the Knicks’ offense gradually improved. New York scored 32 points during the second stanza and Curry’s slam just before the buzzer cut the deficit to 45-44 at the break.

The Knicks continued their upswing during the third period, seizing the lead and extending it to 75-72 on a pair of Malik Rose free throws with five ticks remaining.

The Knicks are still just 2-12 in their last 14 road contests...Indiana fell to 18-10 at Conseco Fieldhouse...The Pacers have still won 10 of the last 15 meetings between the clubs...The Knicks drained 9-of-13 from beyond the arc...Rose had 12 points and 10 rebounds in the victory, while Quentin Richardson added six points and 11 boards...Scot Pollard collected five points and nine rebounds in defeat.

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