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Knicks hope to take advantage of depleted Spurs

Nov 11, 2008 - 2:46 PM New York (4-2) at San Antonio (1-4), 8:30 p.m. EST

SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- The New York Knicks have gotten off to a fast start under new coach Mike D'Antoni.

Defeating the San Antonio Spurs, however, has been tough for both of them in recent years.

New York will go for its fourth straight win when it visits San Antonio on Tuesday.

The Knicks handed the Utah Jazz their first loss of the season on Sunday, posting a 107-99 victory. The win put the Knicks two games over .500 for the first time since they were 16-14 on January 1, 2005.

But San Antonio has defeated New York six straight times and won nine of the past 10 meetings between the two teams.

The Spurs also seemed to have D'Antoni's number when he was the coach of the Phoenix Suns, who have been eliminated in the postseason by San Antonio four of the past five seasons.

This has not been the same San Antonio team this season as the team has been ravaged by injuries in the early going.

Manu Ginobili has been out with an ankle injury and Tony Parker is expected to miss one month after spraining his left ankle in the Spurs' 99-83 loss to the Miami Heat on Friday. The loss dropped the Spurs to 0-3 at home this season.

Tim Duncan has had a double-double in four straight games and will have to shoulder the load once again. He is averaging 26.0 points and 11.6 rebounds this season.