New York Knicks Team Report - February 28

(Basketball News) - The New York Knicks saw their losing streak hit five games with a 96-94 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staple Center.

Stephon Marbury poured in a game-high 28 points and handed out nine assists for the Knicks, who have dropped seven of their last eight, including the first three legs of their four-game West Coast road trip. Tim Thomas added 22 points and Nazr Mohammed hauled in 12 rebounds in the loss.

The Knicks trailed by six points after three quarters, but began the fourth on an 8-0 run, to claim an 85-83 edge. Mike Sweetney’s tip-in with 9:52 left capped the surge and put New York ahead for the first time since early in the first quarter.

The game remained tight and two free throws by Anfernee Hardaway with just under four minutes left tied the game at 92 apiece. After the teams went scoreless for nearly three minutes, Thomas drained two free throws with 1:13 left to give New York a 94-92 lead.

Chris Wilcox made 1-of-2 from the foul line with 52.6 seconds remaining and after Marbury missed a fallaway jumper, the Clippers took over. Marko Jaric brought the ball down court and fed Bobby Simmons, who netted a jumper from the right baseline to give Los Angeles a 95-94 edge with 21.3 seconds left.

Kurt Thomas then missed a 15-foot jumper with just under five seconds left and after the ball bounced around, Quentin Richardson was finally fouled with 1.1 seconds remaining. Richardson made 1-of-2 for a two-point edge, but Thomas’ last-second attempt was off the mark as the buzzer sounded.

The Knicks continued to play without guard Allan Houston, who has been sidelined since January 30 with a sore knee. Houston, who had originally hoped to be back right after the All-Star break, could return to the lineup on Sunday against the Denver Nuggets.

New York fell for the seventh time in its last 14 games on the road and slipped to 10-19 away from home this season.