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Frye nails game-winning free throws in controversial finish

Feb 24, 2007 - 4:48 AM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Channing Frye needed some extra time.

In a sloppy, plodding contest, Frye nailed the go-ahead free throws with eight-tenths of a second left and Stephon Marbury had 22 points and eight assists as the New York Knicks held on for a dramatic 95-93 victory.

Struggling for most of the night, Frye scored just seven points on 3-of-7 shooting before he was given a chance to win the game when time was put back on the clock in the game's wild final sequence.

"I think it's justified by our hard work," Frye said. "The refs and the rest of the league are seeing that we're playing hard and trying to make this push towards the playoffs, and we're just trying to do the best that we can."

With the game tied, 93-93, with 24 seconds left, Marbury waited until there were seven seconds remaining before he drove the lane and fired a five-foot airball from the right baseline as time expired - or so everyone thought.

Bucks center Andrew Bogut was called for a foul as the buzzer sounded for grabbing Frye's shoulder in a fight for the rebound. After a video review, eight-tenths of a second were put back on the clock and Frye nailed both free throws to make it 95-93.

"I thought it was a great call," Marbury said. "We got one from the basketball gods. When it happened, I kind of was like, 'Was there a foul?' Then when you see the replay, it was clearly a foul."

Frye agreed.

"I felt like it was a call that he made after looking at it and he (the referee) did the right thing," Frye said. "He made a basketball play, he stepped up and made that call. Tonight the calls were pretty even, and they kept the game with a nice little flow."

After a timeout, Milwaukee then attempted a desperation lob to the rim on the game's final possession, but Knicks forward Jared Jeffries knocked it away to seal the victory.

The Knicks and Bucks traded 3-pointers to set the stage for the controversial final sequence. Jamal Crawford's high-arching 3-pointer with 29 seconds left gave New York a 93-90 lead. But the Bucks came back on the next possession when Mo Williams nailed his own shot from the arc to tie the game with 24 seconds left.

Marbury shot 8-of-17 from the field and Jamal Crawford scored 22 points on 5-of-15 shooting for New York, which shot 42 percent (30-of-71).

New York's next two contests will be against New Jersey and Miami, which both are ahead of the Knicks in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot.

"These two games are huge for us because both of those teams are in front of us," Marbury said. "For us, our mindset has to basically be the way how it was tonight minus the turnovers. We gutted this game out. We know that Sunday's definitely going to be a tough game."

Knicks star reserve David Lee, who had 10 points and nine rebounds, left the game in the fourth quarter after spraining his right ankle and straining a muscle in his lower leg. X-rays were negative.

"It's tough. I noticed when he wasn't in the game right away," Marbury said. "Normally you're just playing but when he's in the game you pretty much have a feel. It's a feeling that you get because he's around the basketball, he's getting offensive rebounds. He's always making something happen."

Williams had 28 points and 10 rebounds for Milwaukee, which shot 44 percent (34-of-77) and suffered its seventh straight loss.