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Knicks welcome Kings to Madison Square Garden

Jan 14, 2011 - 3:59 PM (Sports Network) - The New York Knicks are back on the east coast after a tough four-game western road trip and will begin a quick homestand tonight versus the road-weary Sacramento Kings at Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks went 2-2 on the trek and are coming off Wednesday's 131-125 loss in Utah. Shawne Williams led the Knicks with 25 points off the bench and both Raymond Felton and Bill Walker contributed 23 points in a losing cause.

Amare Stoudemire had 22 points and five assists for New York, which lost for just the fourth time in 10 tries.

"We fought hard. Everybody played extremely hard," Felton said. "I can't ask for nothing else from my teammates. Everybody came ready to play. It's a good team they hit shots, they hit a lot of shots. We got down but we fought back. I'm satisfied with the way we played but not satisfied with the overall outcome. But other than that I thought we played hard."

New York was without forward Anthony Randolph (flu) and he is listed as questionable for tonight. Stoudemire (stinger) is probable for Friday and has scored 20 or more points in 23 consecutive games, the most since Patrick Ewing did it in 28 straight games from Jan. 25-Mar. 27, 1990. Richie Guerin set the franchise record with a 29-game streak from Jan. 30-Mar. 14, 1962.

New York, which leads the NBA in scoring with 107.8 ppg, will also host Phoenix on the homestand and is 10-7 in the friendly confines of Madison Square Garden. The Knicks have won four in a row at home and are 8-2 in the last 10 games at MSG after starting 2-5.

Sacramento has dropped 12 straight on the road and will resume a six-game trek tonight in the Big Apple. It fell to 0-3 on the road swing following Wednesday's 119-95 loss in loss, as Carl Landry netted 17 points off the bench and Beno Udrih added 16 in a losing effort.

"That's a great team we played tonight," Kings head coach Paul Westphal said of the Celtics, "and they took care of us."

The Kings again played without reigning Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans for the third straight game because of a sprained left ankle. Evans and guard Francisco Garcia (undisclosed) are both questionable for tonight.

Landry is averaging 20.7 ppg off the bench in his last three games, while Udrih is averaging 22.3 ppg over that same stretch for the Kings, who are 2-13 away from California's capital and will also visit Detroit and Atlanta.

New York defeated Sacramento, 113-106, on Nov. 17 this season at Arco Arena, but the Kings have won 10 of the past 14 contests in this series. The Kings are unbeaten in their last three trips to Madison Square Garden.