Shaq's big night ruined by play-off hunting Knicks
NEW YORK: Stephon Marbury scored 25 points to lift the New York Knicks over the Miami Heat 99-93 on Monday and spoil Shaquille O'Neal's historic night.
Miami centre O'Neal scored 20 points to surpass 25,000 points for his career and become the top scorer among active National Basketball Association players.
O'Neal is just the seventh player in NBA history to have 25,000 points and 10,000 rebounds and the 14th in history to reach the 25,000 point plateau.
Marbury scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and Eddy Curry collected 28 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks.
Jamal Crawford scored 20 points for the Knicks, who have won six straight games at home.
On Monday, Marbury gave the Knicks the lead for good with a nifty layup over Heat reserve centre Alonzo Mourning to make it 87-86 with four minutes left.
However, Crawford put the game out of reach in the waning seconds. After reserve forward Malik Rose drove the lane and had his pass deflected, the ball caromed in the right corner to Crawford, who nailed a three-pointer to make it 97-93 with 21 seconds remaining.
Marbury shot seven-of-12 from the field, including three-of-six from the arc, and Curry was nine-of-17 from the floor and 10-of-13 from the line for New York, which shot 43 percent (31-of-72).
Jason Kapono scored 24 points for the Heat, who shot 49 percent (40-of-81).
Miami fell to 1-2 since star Dwyane Wade dislocated his left shoulder last Wednesday.
At Houston, Paul Pierce scored 28 points to lead Boston over short-handed Houston 77-72 and break a 12-game road losing streak.
The Celtics, who have the NBA's worst record, rallied from a 13-point fourth quarter deficit to avoid matching the franchise mark for most consecutive road losses. The win, against a Rockets team playing without Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, is just their second in the last 24 games.
Boston scored eight straight points to take a 70-68 lead on a layup by Delonte West with 1:23 remaining. West blocked a shot by Juwan Howard for the fast break that led to the go-ahead score.
A 3-pointer by Pierce with 25.9 seconds left pushed the lead to 73-68 and West made four free throw in the final seconds to ensure the win
At Memphis, Tennessee, Carmelo Anthony scored 33 points, Nene added 27 and Allen Iverson had 25 to lead Denver over Memphis.
Anthony, the NBA's leading scorer at 30.5 points per game, helped the Nuggets snap a four-game losing streak and prevented the Grizzlies from winning back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Agencies
(China Daily 02/28/2007 page24)
