Lewis’ late trey guides Seattle past Knicks

Lewis ended with 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Sonics, who have won three straight games. Ray Allen added 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and Earl Watson had a season-high 23 points and nine assists for Seattle, which picked up just its seventh win in 29 road games this season.

Stephon Marbury ended with 40 points, but missed the potential game-tying free throw with nine-tenths of a second left, as New York failed to win its third straight game. Eddy Curry added 15 points and eight rebound for the Knicks, who could have moved into the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference with a win.

"Every game right now hurts,’ said Marbury. "No game hurts more than another."

Had the Knicks won, they would’ve pulled into a tie with the Magic for the final playoff spot in the East and ahead of the Nets in the standings. New Jersey lost to Dallas on Tuesday.

New York trailed for most of the contest, by double-digits for most of the time. But Marbury took over in the fourth, scoring 17 of his points in the final 12 minutes. His three-point play with 42.8 second left gave New York a 98-97 edge.

Allen then missed a three-pointer on the other end with 35 seconds left, giving the Knicks a chance to ice the game. Marbury, though, took an ill- advised three-pointer as the shot clock ran down to give the Sonics life. With 12 seconds left, Marbury chucked up a shot from a good three feet beyond the arc.

"The shot clock was going down and they packed it in, so I pulled up for the three," explained Marbury.

Seattle found the rebound, Allen brought the ball in the lane and kicked it out to a wide-open Lewis for the game-winning three-pointer.

"When it left my hand I knew it was going to go in," said Lewis. "To do it here in New York City in the Garden, I will always remember that."

Marbury had a chance to force overtime, as he was fouled going to the basket with less than a second remaining. He hit the first shot and then missed the second.

"I hate to see that happen to anybody," said Allen of Marbury’s miss. "He deserved to make both of those free throws. He played a hell of a game."

It was the first free throw miss for Marbury in the game. He ended 6-of-7 from the line and hit a career-high tying eight three-pointers.

As a team, New York hit only 24-of-38 free throws.

"We didn’t convert on our free throws," said Marbury. "Missing that last free throw was even tougher. It’s frustrating, but we have to get back on the horse."

The Knicks last lead before the final minute of play came at 4-2 in the first quarter. That advantage, though, was short lived, as the Sonics quickly built a 19-9 lead and went into the second with an even bigger 31-18 cushion.

Seattle continued to hold a 13-point lead heading into halftime, 55-42, and built the lead to 62-44 before going into the fourth with a 73-66 cushion.

Game Notes

New York had a seven-game home win streak halted...These two teams split the season series...Seattle ended a three-game slide to the Knicks...NY fell to 17-14 at home...Seattle forward Chris Wilcox ended with 12 points and left the game in the third quarter after suffering a gash that required four stitches...Quentin Richardson had 12 points and nine rebounds and Steve Francis tallied 10 points for NY.