Knicks end skid, keep Wizards winless on the road

[January 25, 2011]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Amare Stoudemire ended a mini-slump with 30 points, and the New York Knicks snapped a six-game losing streak and dropped the Washington Wizards to 0-21 on the road with a 115-106 victory Monday night.

Raymond Felton ended his dismal stretch with 17 points and 15 assists as the Knicks (23-21) avoided falling back to .500 with what would have been their longest skid of the season. They beat Washington for the seventh straight time at Madison Square Garden and sixth in a row overall, sweeping the series for the first time since going 4-0 in 2003.

Nick Young scored 22 points for the Wizards, now more than halfway to the NBA's first winless road mark in an 82-game schedule. They are closing in on the longest road skid to open a season, 29 straight losses by the Dallas Mavericks during the 1992-93 season.

The Wizards are still a long way from the 1990-91 Sacramento Kings, who lost their final 37 road games and finished 1-40.

Rookie guard John Wall had 18 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, but the Wizards committed 20 turnovers that led to 24 points for the Knicks.

Stoudemire had been held to 18 points in each of the Knicks' last two losses after scoring 20 or more in 26 consecutive games, but was 13 of 23 and added nine rebounds while playing 40 minutes in this one.

But the bigger problem lately may have been Felton, who might've wrecked his All-Star hopes by going 23 for 79 from the field in the last five games. He was 7 of 14 Monday and the Knicks turned it over only 11 times.

New York finally put it away midway through the fourth, holding Washington to one field goal in more than 5 1/2 minutes during an 11-4 run that turned a four-point lead into a 110-99 advantage.

Wilson Chandler finished with 25 points and Danilo Gallinari had 17 for the Knicks, who finally got their offense going again after a tough road trip -- with some help from the woeful Wizards.

The Knicks' locker room board noted that the Wizards would turn it over, ranking near the bottom of the league, and sure enough they coughed it up 10 times in the first quarter, leading to 12 points that helped New York build a 33-26 lead.

The Wizards couldn't even dress properly for this road game. Rookie reserve Kevin Seraphin began the game with his shorts on backward and had to change in front of the bench during a first-quarter timeout as his teammates surrounded him.

But down 13 early in the second, Wall went to the bench and the Wizards surged back behind their reserves. Rookies Trevor Booker and recent NBA Development League call-up Mustafa Shakur were on the floor as Washington put up 36 points in the period and led by as many as five before the Knicks tied it at 62 at the half.

Stoudemire played the whole third quarter, throwing down a couple of powerful dunks en route to 15 points. The Knicks led 93-91 after a potential tying dunk by Seraphin was ruled after the buzzer.

NOTES: The Wizards' reserves stood until they scored their first point, angering the fans behind them. The players were back sitting in time to catch a pass the Wizards fired out of bounds right after they took a 1-0 lead on a technical free throw after a defensive 3-second violation on the Knicks. ... The Knicks' game Thursday against Miami will be on TNT, the first time the network has televised a game from Madison Square Garden in five years. Longtime Knicks radio and TV voice Marv Albert will call the game with Reggie Miller, who thrived at MSG against the Knicks, and Steve Kerr. The studio team will broadcast from the arena and announce the starters for the All-Star game during the pregame show.

[Associated Press; By BRIAN MAHONEY]

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