• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Crawford, Knicks top Heat, win debut for D'Antoni

Oct 30, 2008 - 6:22 AM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- The New York Knicks showed why new coach Mike D'Antoni's system is so exciting - the game is never over.

Jamal Crawford scored 29 points and Zach Randolph added 20 and nine rebounds as the Knicks were triumphant in D'Antoni's debut, holding off the Miami Heat, 120-115, in the season opener for both teams Wednesday.

Wilson Chandler scored 17 points off the bench for the Knicks, who fired coach and team president Isiah Thomas after last season's 23-59 finish - the franchise's second such mark in the last three years.

But New York's players and coaches seemed to have put that losing mentality behind them.

"I expected a win," Crawford said. "I didn't really care how we went about it. Everybody stepped up. Everybody who came in contributed, and it's great to see."

"I just liked our overall play," D'Antoni said. "I think those last five minutes are just a matter of 'oh gosh' and then we kind of shut it down. We can't do that. We're not quite that good to be able to do that."

Quentin Richardson scored 16 points and David Lee collected 16 and 11 rebounds for New York, which led by as many as 23 points in the second half and did so without the services of former starters Eddy Curry and Stephon Marbury. The maligned duo were the only dressed members of the roster to not play.

"We gave coach his first win as a Knick and we are just happy with the win," newly acquired New York guard Chris Duhon said. "With the style of play that we play, the game is never over because we add so many extra possessions."

D'Antoni used 10 players in the first half, when the Knicks were implementing the new coach's offensive philosophy to perfection - hoisting shots within the first seven seconds of the shot clock and playing well in transition.

"It was fun," Richardson said. "That's great. That's great when you have a team victory like that."

Things were going so well that Danilo Gallinari - the team's 20-year-old first-round pick who was held out of preseason action with a bad back - got into the game. He missed both of his shots in three minutes.

"I thought the Knicks played excellent," Miami superstar Dwyane Wade said. "We gave them a lot of shots early and then they got comfortable."

But things broke down after halftime as Miami outscored New York, 70-60, in the second half, forcing the home team to hold on for dear life in the waning seconds.

"Coach said, 'There's going to be a lot of times when it's going to be like that,'" Randolph said. "We're going to be up 20, and it's good for us to come back (and win)."

Daequan Cook scored eight points in the final 40 seconds, including a deep 3-pointer to make it 118-115 with 13 seconds left. But Crawford made two from the line with 12 ticks remaining before Cook missed his final shot from the arc as time expired.

"That was the case of we weren't real good about extending on the 3-point shooters," D'Antoni said. "Our energy just let down a little bit. We didn't get back a couple of times and missed some shots. We were a little tight. We just complicated things but, if that's our problem, we'll work through that."

"They hit a lot of threes," Crawford added. "They hit a lot of tough shots and sped up the game a little bit. I think that's something we still need to work on."

Crawford, who struggled in the preseason, figures to be one of the beneficiaries of D'Antoni's free-wheeling attack. The lanky guard shot 9-of-19 from the field.

It could have been a more disastrous final stretch for New York, which caught a break when Wade fouled out with 1:25 left.

He was disqualified after leaping to contest a 3-pointer by Crawford, whose follow-through was impeded by the outstretched Wade. The former NBA Finals MVP had 26 points, nine assists and seven rebounds before his departure.

"We had opportunities to come back," Wade said. "We saw some good things and some bad things. If we want to win, we're going to have to play hectic basketball, and that's not traditional Miami Heat basketball, but that's how we're going to have to play if we want to win."

The Knicks took a 15-point lead at halftime and received a standing ovation from a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden as they entered the locker room. The playoff-starved New York fans have not seen their club make the postseason since the 2003-04 campaign, when they were swept by the New Jersey Nets.

"In the first half, there was no trust level there," said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra, who also made his debut on the bench. "We just weren't passing the ball. Defensively, we just got to learn what our identity is. We just can't sit back on our heels and let teams come to us."

D'Antoni's arrival, along with the presence of new team president Donnie Walsh, has aimed to turned that around. For starters, the Knicks have bought into the new regime's shooter-friendly system - so far - nailing 9-of-25 shots from the arc Wednesday.

Udonis Haslem had 23 points and 10 rebounds and Shawn Marion added 14 and 11 for Miami, which won just 15 games last season.

That poor record earned the Heat the No. 2 overall selection in June's draft, which they used on Michael Beasley, who struggled in his NBA debut. The highly touted forward scored just nine points on 4-of-14 shooting and seemed to fall in love with the 3-pointer, hitting just 1-of-5 from the arc.