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Wednesday, Jan. 3 7:00pm ET
Houston keys Knicks' fifth win in row

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

BOSTON (AP) -- To find a little movivation, the New York Knicks only had to go back 13 days.

Allan Houston
Houston

Getting 25 points from Allan Houston, New York avenged its last defeat by beating the Boston Celtics 100-91 on Wednesday night.

The Knicks have won five straight since losing to the Celtics 92-88 on Dec. 21.

"(There was) a little bit more motivation," Houston said. "We knew we wanted to redeem ourselves."

New York is unbeaten since losing to the Celtics 92-88 on Dec. 21, a victory that snapped a 15-game losing streak at Madison Square Garden that dated back to 1993.

"We wanted to continue to prove we can play like we have. We want to see how long we can keep this streak going," Houston said.

Since the loss, New York has defeated Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, Minnesota and Boston.

"We have to play well to win," Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "There are some teams in this league that don't have to play well to win -- we're not one of those teams."

Houston scored four points in a 6-0 Knicks run, giving New York an 83-76 lead before Antoine Walker hit two 3-pointers to cut the lead to 85-82 with 6:24 left. An 11-3 run, highlighted by Chris Childs' 3-pointer with 1:44 remaining, gave the Knicks a 96-85 lead.

"Allan Houston is a great shooter. Bryant Stith played him as well as he possibly could, but he shot 9-for-12," Celtics coach Rick Pitino said. "Give Houston credit. We stopped him in New York and we won. We didn't stop him here, and we lost."

Walker led all scorers with 30 points in the third meeting of the season between the two teams. The Celtics lost 103-101 in overtime on Nov. 11.

"They play hard and it makes me play harder," Houston said of the Celtics. The saying is, `you are what your record says you are.' But, a lot of 12-20 teams don't play as hard as they do."

Childs had 17 points and seven assists and Larry Johnson had 16 points for the Knicks. Latrell Sprewell added 12.

The Celtics, losers of their last three, got 16 points apiece from Bryant Stith and Paul Pierce.

After leading by as many as 14 points in the first quarter, the Celtics saw their lead quickly slip away. The Knicks took a 50-47 lead late in the second quarter on a three-point play by Kurt Thomas before Walker, who scored 21 points in the half, tied it 50-50 before the break.

After the Knicks took their biggest lead, 73-67, in the third quarter, a 3-pointer by Eric Williams and a jumper by Vitaly Potapenko cut it to 73-72 at the end of close of the third quarter.

Game notes
Knicks center Marcus Camby returned to the lineup after missing four straight games with a strained left groin. ... Glen Rice did not dress for the game due to plantar faciitis. ... During their five-game winning streak, the Knicks have allowed 80 points or more only twice.
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard

New York Clubhouse

Boston Clubhouse

RECAPS
New York 100
Boston 91

Philadelphia 98
Atlanta 80

Detroit 107
Dallas 104

Milwaukee 88
Cleveland 83

Phoenix 90
LA Clippers 85

Portland 102
Indiana 86

Vancouver 99
Charlotte 89

Denver 111
Golden State 100

LA Lakers 82
Utah 71

FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT

Antoine Walker Official Site


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