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Randolph leads shorthanded Knicks past undermanned Nets

Dec 6, 2007 - 5:27 AM By Carl Dispoto PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The New York Knicks did not appear to miss Stephon Marbury and Eddy Curry nearly as much as the New Jersey Nets seemed lost without Jason Kidd.

Jamal Crawford scored 29 points and Zach Randolph matched a season high with 25 as the Knicks overcame the absence of Marbury and Curry for a 100-93 victory over the depleted Nets.

Marbury was not with New York after his father passed away on Monday, and Curry was sidelined due to a sprained left ankle suffered in the morning shootaround. But the Nets were dealt a similar blow when Kidd was unable to play due to migraine headaches and looked sluggish on offense.

"You catch a team without Jason and you can see the type of difference he makes," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said. "We were fortunate enough to catch them on a night he wasn't playing. The Nets are definitely a different team without Kidd, and I'm glad we didn't have to see him tonight."

Kidd's absence left the Knicks with a better chance for a rare victory over the Nets, who had won 20 of 24 matchups since acquiring their star point guard prior to the 2001-02 season.

"I guess we were due," Thomas said. "I feel like we haven't beaten them in five or six years. They've had our number for a while."

Nets guard Antoine Wright was also sidelined with an injured left shoulder and New York took advantage of New Jersey missing two of its best defenders.

Randolph made 10-of-15 shots from the floor and Crawford was 7-of-17 overall and made 12-of-14 free throws. New York shot 49 percent (32-of-66) overall and made 30-of-37 free throws.

"The good thing about those two guys is they can score the basketball and they can score when you need it," Thomas said. "We just tried to keep the ball in their hands."

The Knicks never trailed after the game's first basket and took their largest lead at 80-66 after Crawford and Nate Robinson hit consecutive 3-pointers to open the fourth quarter.

Bostjan Nachbar made a pair of 3-pointers during a 9-0 run for New Jersey, but Randolph answered with a layup and Fred Jones scored four straight points to again push the lead to double digits.

After the Nets had again climbed within five, Crawford punctuated the victory with a 3-pointer over Vince Carter from the top of the circle with 1:38 to go.

David Lee had 13 points starting in place of Curry and Jones filled in for Marbury and added 15 for the Knicks, who had lost their first six road games of the season.

"I thought overall it was still a great victory for us," Lee said. "With stuff on the court and off, we haven't had the best week. But this is a very positive thing."

"David and Fred were great," Thomas said. "We said that we thought we had capable people in the locker room who would step up, and they were capable of playing and those two guys did an excellent job."

Richard Jefferson scored 31 points and Carter managed just six of his 19 points after halftime for New Jersey, which used only eight players and lost for the fifth time in its last six home games.

"They were shorthanded, too," Jefferson said. "We had more than enough out there on the court to win. I'll stand by that even if we're missing a couple guys."

Without Kidd the Nets started Eddie Gill, who was in foul trouble throughout the game, leaving Carter with much of point guard duties. Reserve point guards Marcus Williams and Darrell Armstrong were inactive with injuries.

New Jersey's frontcourt was also limited as center Jason Collins, forward Malik Allen forward Sean Williams each struggled with fouls. Reserve forward Josh Boone was also unavailable due to migraines.

New Jersey trailed by as many as 10 in the first quarter, when Randolph had 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting. The Nets climbed within 34-33 on a basket by Allen with 5:48 left in the first half, but the Knicks responded quickly.

Randolph made a layup to extend the lead and Lee gave New York a 40-34 cushion on a three-point play after he was fouled by Williams on a fast-break dunk.