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Chandler, Knicks shoot lights out, rout Grizzlies

Nov 13, 2008 - 5:03 AM By Shawn Pachucki PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Wilson Chandler scored a career-high 27 points as the New York Knicks enjoyed a sizzling night as they posted a 132-103 rout of the Memphis Grizzlies at FedEx Forum on Wednesday night.

Jamal Crawford scored 25 points and Zach Randolph added 18 and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who erased all memories of their lousy 38 percent shooting performance in a 92-80 loss at San Antonio on Tuesday.

Off to their best start (5-3) since the 2000-2001 season, New York hit a season-best 59 percent (52-of-88) of their shots from the field, including a franchise best 19 shots from the arc in 34 attempts in this one.

"Obviously, we shot the ball well and we had one of those games where nothing went wrong," Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni said. "It was one of those nights where the basket just seemed huge for everybody."

Chandler shot 11-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-4 on 3-pointers.

"I was just being aggressive and doing what coach told me," said Chandler, who set career highs for made field goals and shots from the arc. "Coach has a lot of confidence in me, and I just want to pay him back by playing hard."

Crawford opened the third quarter with a 20-foot jumper and followed with a four-point play to build on New York's 11-point halftime lead and make it 66-52. The Knicks led by as many as 22 in the third and took an 18-point cushion into the final period.

Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Chandler drilled a 3-pointer to give New York a 108-85 lead. The second-year forward drilled another bomb before his career night ended with 5:39 to play.

"Wilson did a great job of doing what he can do and make shots," said reserve guard Nate Robinson, who also was perfect from long range with five 3-pointers in the game. "We have a lot of confidence in him."

Robinson was 8-of-8 from the field and finished with 21 points off the bench.

"I didn't make any shots at all in San Antonio, and I told coach I was going to come out and try to make every shot and I did," Robinson said.

Rudy Gay scored 20 points to lead Memphis, which posted its best shooting night of the season, hitting 49 percent (40-of-82) of its shots from the field.

The Knicks were able to overcome the hot shooting by forcing 17 turnovers for 24 points.

"They were definitely angry about their 80 points in San Antonio last night," said Grizzlies coach Marc Iavaroni, who was an assistant under D'Antoni with the Phoenix Suns. "They put on a show. We have to give them a lot of credit. We have to learn some lessons from them in terms of how hard you have to play on both ends."

O.J. Mayo was cooled off, scoring just 17 points after averaging 28.0 on the Grizzlies' four-game road trip.

Rookie center Marc Gasol scored 10 of his 16 points in the first quarter for Memphis, which led by as many as seven points. The Grizzlies led 24-21 after the first quarter.

Robinson scored 10 points during the first six minutes of the second quarter for the Knicks, who used a 14-2 run to race to a double-digit lead they would eventually carry the rest of the game.

"A lot of guys had great nights," D'Antoni said. "Hopefully, we can bottle this up and keep it going forward."