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Knicks top Bobcats in double overtime on Lee tip

Dec 21, 2006 - 5:56 AM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Not even Michael Jordan could keep the New York Knicks from a remarkable win.

David Lee converted an improbable tip-in off an in-bounds pass as time expired in the second overtime as the Knicks outlasted the Charlotte Bobcats, 111-109, for their second straight dramatic win.

Tied, 109-109, in the second overtime, Charlotte's Matt Carroll was stripped by Stephon Marbury, who fell on the loose ball and called timeout with one-tenth of a second left. On the ensuing possession, Jamal Crawford lobbed an in-bounds pass from just inside halfcourt over Gerald Wallace and Lee tipped it in to secure New York's second straight overtime victory.

"We didn't get a shot when the clock was at 24 seconds," Bobcats coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. "We turned the ball over, it slipped out of (Carroll's) hands. My issue is that we didn't get a shot when there were 24 seconds on the clock."

"We knew they would assume that Eddy (Curry) was going to come off and try to get the tip," Lee said. "I acted like I was going to set a back screen, and they didn't communicate well, and from there it was just Jamal making a perfect pass and I just tried to get a tip on it."

New York coach Isiah Thomas said the play was executed to perfection.

"I wanted Jamal to take the ball out and wanted Eddy at the top and I wanted David underneath the basket with Channing and Steph on the weak side," Thomas said. "I just wanted him to fake to Eddy and throw it to David underneath and have David jump up and tap it in."

The play was even more incredible considering a player by rule can only tip the ball in with less than three-tenths of a second left on the clock. The play was not reviewed by the officials.

"I think the rule is it's just a tap-in and with that amount of time left on the clock, it can only be a tap-in," Thomas said. "That's a play that's not reviewable because I think of the (New York Knicks) Trent Tucker shot and someone made a shot in Orlando (Baron Davis) and the NBA went through a lot of reviews."

A legend at Madison Square Garden for destroying the Knicks, Jordan was in attendance as Charlotte's managing member of basketball operations.

"That was great timing wasn't it?" Lee said of the New York's heroics in front of one of the game's greatest players. "It's all about the guys in (the Knicks) locker room, though, we never stopped playing."

Jordan was was playing on January 15, 1990 when Tucker defeated his Bulls by nailing a turnaround jumper with one-tenth of a second remaining.

Curry, who had 29 points and nine rebounds, came up with one of the biggest plays of the game in the second extra session. Breaking the cardinal rule of passing, Marbury decided not to shoot a 3-pointer in mid-air and fed Curry, who muscled in a layup and finished off the three-point play with a free throw to make it 109-109 with 1:30 left.

However, the Knicks had numerous chances to put away the game earlier in the contest.

After Raymond Felton missed a wild layup attempt with 23 seconds left in the first overtime, New York held for the last shot, but failed to execute. With two seconds remaining, Marbury passed to Crawford, who missed a desperation 3-pointer as time expired.

Regulation ended in a similar fashion. With the game tied, 95-95, Crawford missed an ill-advised fadeaway 20-footer.

"We seem not to want anything easy," Thomas said. "I admire the fight and courage, but at the same time, it'd be good to have an easy night."

Channing Frye scored a season-high 30 points on 14-of-26 shooting for the Knicks, who shot 47 percent (42-of-90) and picked up the last-second win two nights after defeating Utah on Marbury's game-winning layup in overtime.

Wallace scored 28 points and Emeka Okafor had 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Bobcats, who shot 43 percent (45-of-106).

"It was Bobcat luck. I'm in awe from that one, did that actually happen?" Okafor said. "I saw David jump and he hit it and that was the play. That stung. Maybe, if they had three seconds left, dribbled and shot but not that's just luck."