Foye, T’Wolves down slumping Knicks

Ricky Davis added 17 points and Kevin Garnett tallied 12 points and 15 boards for Minnesota, which has won two of three to keep its slim playoff hopes alive. Craig Smith had 15 points and six rebounds for the Timberwolves, who drew within 5 1/2 games of the idle Clippers for the final spot in the West.

Minnesota has seven games remaining, while the Clippers play eight more times.

Nate Robinson scored 21 points and Eddy Curry had 20 and six boards for the Knicks, who have dropped four straight to fall three games behind the idle Orlando Magic for the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Mardy Collins added a career-high 16 points and Channing Frye had 11 points and seven boards for New York, which has lost eight of nine overall.

After New York came back from an 18-point halftime deficit to tie the game on a pair of Collins baskets to open the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves regained control of the game.

Foye drained consecutive three-pointers, as the Timberwolves built an 80-75 lead. After New York drew within 82-80, Garnett started a 9-3 run that gave Minnesota some breathing room. Foye hit another trey during the surge, which was capped by a Smith bucket for a 91-83 lead.

New York later made it interesting by drawing within 96-94 on a Renaldo Balkman putback with 16.8 seconds left. Foye then just hit 1-of-2 from the line with 13.8 remaining, but Minnesota grabbed the rebound, passed the ball around for the next nine seconds before getting fouled and then running out the clock.

"They made a run and we didn’t give up," said Foye. "We kept our composure and got the win."

Balkman ended with 10 points and eight boards for the Knicks, who played almost the entire game without Stephon Marbury. The star guard injured his toe in the second quarter and didn’t return to action until the final minute of the fourth quarter.

"My foot got jammed on the back of Mike James and then hit the floor," said Marbury. "I’ve been fighting a jam since we played LA.

"Isiah put me in the game, basically as a decoy."

The Timberwolves jumped out to a big first-half lead, scoring 11 of the first 13 points before going ahead 24-11 after Davis’ bucket late in the opening quarter. Minnesota carried a 28-17 lead into the second quarter and used a 19-8 run midway through the second quarter to increase its lead to 18 points, 55-37.

Minnesota continued to lead by 18 points at halftime, 59-41, but New York came alive in the third to make it a game. Robinson’s three-pointer 5 1/2 minutes into the stanza cut the deficit to 10 points, 67-57, and the Knicks later used an 11-4 run to end the quarter to make it a four-point game.

New York actually drew within 72-70 after a Curry bucket with just under 1 1/2 minutes to play in the quarter before Minnesota went into the fourth with a 74-70 edge.

"I can’t figure out why we can’t duplicate halves," said Garnett. "We played two totally different halves. The big thing is to have consistency."

Game Notes

The Knicks got the services of forward David Lee back after missing a good portion of the second half of the season with a right leg injury...Minnesota swept the season series from New York, winning for the fourth straight time. The Timberwolves have also won 10 of the last 12 against the Knicks.