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Led by Zach Randolph, who scored 22 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, the New York Knicks rallied late in the game to win 119-112 over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night in their first trip to Madison Square Garden since last year's brawl.
New York were 10 points behind at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but they started the last period with a go-ahead three pointer from Stephon Marbury, then Renaldo Balkman made a driving lay-up and Marbury delivered again by hitting a jumper to close in 92-89 on the Nuggets.
The Knicks had four scorers with 20-plus points. Besides Zach Randolph who was in great shape again, Stephon Marbury went 8-for-15 from the floor and amounted 21 points and nine assists, Jamal Crawford shot 8-for-19 for 23 points and snatched eight assists, while Jamal Crawford had 25 points. Curry added 24 points and eight rebounds for the Knicks, who outscored their opponents 37-20 in the fourth quarter.
For Denver, Allen Iverson scored 32 points and Carmelo Anthony finished the game with 24 points and nine assists, and Linas Kleiza chipped in 18 points.
Iverson fought hard to keep the lead of his team and with 2:47 remaining scoring machine hit a 3-pointer to tie the score at 108, but couldn’t prevent the Knicks to close with an 11-4 surge.
Eddie Curry, often criticized for his defense and work on the glass, managed to grab an offensive rebound against Marcus Camby for a put-back and foul with 3:47 left in the fourth quarter to push the Knicks 105-102 in front. The crowd was instantly behind him as he let out a loud roar after the basket.
"Very rarely you come in and talk about Eddy's defense and rebounding," Isiah Thomas said. "That is the growth and maturation that he has come to. We all talk about the next step for him."
Elsewhere in the NBA:
New Orleans Hornets 118, LA Lakers 104 / Sacramento Kings 104, Seattle SuperSonics 98 / Cleveland Cavaliers 108, Golden State Warriors 104 / Phoenix Suns 115, Charlotte Bobcats 83 / Milwaukee Bucks 112, Toronto Raptors 85 / New Jersey Nets 87, Atlanta Hawks 82 LA Clippers 97, Chicago Bulls 91 / Orlando Magic 111, Minnesota Timberwolves 103.
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