New York Knicks Team Report - March 14

(Basketball News) - The Knicks suffered a 90-80 defeat at the hands of the Seattle SuperSonics at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

Stephon Marbury and Tim Thomas each finished with 20 points for the Knicks, who had won two in a row and five of six entering the contest. New York also saw a seven-game home win streak come to an end. The Knicks searching for their first eight-game home win streak at MSG since February 25-March 17, 2001.

The Knicks struggled mightily from the field on the night, hitting only 31 percent of their shots. New York went just 6-of-21 (.286) from three-point range and 26-of-30 (.867) from the free throw line.

Kurt Thomas and Jamal Crawford combined to go just 5-for-20 (.250) from the field in the game. Thomas finished with eight points and nine rebounds in 38 minutes of action, while Crawford tallied just five points on 0-of-6 three- point shooting.

The Knicks suffered their first defeat at home since a 116-110 setback to Milwaukee on February 9. New York is now 19-13 at home this season.

New York (26-35) remains in the cellar of the Atlantic Division, seven games out of first place. The Knicks are 4 1/2 contests behind Indiana and Orlando for the seventh and eight spots in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

The Knicks are 15th in the league in scoring (96 ppg), while ranking 19th in opponents’ scoring (99.1 ppg). New York is 23rd in point differential (-2.6) and 28th in opponents’ field goal shooting percentage (.464).

The Knicks have a day off before hosting the Miami Heat on Tuesday evening. New York will then head to Atlanta (Friday) and Miami (Saturday) to close out its week’s slate.