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Knicks face Bobcats in third meeting of season

Jan 31, 2007 - 5:18 PM New York (20-27) at Charlotte (16-28) 7:00 pm EST

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas slowly is making progress toward his mandate of showing significant improvement.

Thomas hopes to guide the Knicks to their third victory in four games Wednesday when they face the Charlotte Bobcats for the third time this season.

Named in the offseason to replace Larry Brown, Thomas was told by owner James Dolan he had one season to make significant progress with the team, without being specific.

In an up-and-down season, Thomas has guided the Knicks to 20 victories, three fewer than all of last season. They are third in the mediocre Atlantic Division, just three games behind the New Jersey Nets and the Toronto Raptors.

New York did not record its 20th win last season until April 5.

The Knicks are coming off Tuesday's 99-94 triumph over the Los Angeles Lakers. Eddy Curry scored 27 points, Stephon Marbury added 22 and Jamal Crawford 17 for New York, which had a 48-33 rebounding edge.

The Bobcats have won two of their last three outings and can finish January with an 8-7 record. However, they are 8-14 at home this season.

Charlotte is coming off Monday's 105-101 win over the Denver Nuggets. Gerald Wallace scored 25 points with 13 rebounds and Emeka Okafor added 18 and 10 for the Bobcats.

The teams have split their first two meetings this season. After David Lee's tip-in at the buzzer gave New York a 111-109 win in double overtime on December 20, Charlotte evened the season series with a 126-110 victory January 12.