Curry's Footprints Are All Over Knicks’ Victory
By HOWARD BECK
Published: December 10, 2006

In his campaign of relentless positive thinking — anything to rationalize a poor record — Coach Isiah Thomas has harped on a tough schedule and a rash of injuries and insisted that the Knicks can only be better in the days ahead. The rhetoric has occasionally veered into the absurd.

Eddy Curry surpassed 20 points for the ninth game in a row, the longest such streak for a Knick since 1998.

The Knicks would perhaps be better off simply pointing to the biggest, most obvious sign of hope they have. At 6 feet 11 inches and 285 pounds, Eddy Curry should be hard to miss.

His massive footprints were all over Madison Square Garden, and all over the Milwaukee Bucks, last night after he scored a career-high 36 points in a 115-107 victory. For two weeks, Curry has been outstanding, stringing together 20-point games. Last night, for the first time since becoming a Knick, Curry was dominant.

He made 17 of 24 field goals, both career highs. He overpowered Andrew Bogut, the No. 1 draft pick in 2005, and Dan Gadzuric. He even blocked three shots. It was hard to contain Curry, or the praise that poured from his teammates.

“Nobody can handle Eddy,” said Quentin Richardson, repeating the statement for emphasis. “There’s only one person in the league that’s even big enough, and he’s hurt right now. Nobody else can handle him.”

Richardson meant Shaquille O’Neal of the Miami Heat. A few weeks ago, Houston’s Yao Ming overpowered Curry, but Richardson said that was a different Curry.

“I don’t think he can handle Eddy either, to be honest with you,” Richardson said of Yao. “I know how Eddy’s capable of playing.”

The Knicks have prodded Curry to demand the ball, and he has happily accepted the burden more with each passing week. He had eight straight 20-point games before last night, but none like this.

The Bucks chose to front Curry in the post, and the Knicks took full advantage, passing the ball over the top for easy dunks and layups. Curry could have had 40 points had he not missed a layup to start the game and a couple of tip-ins.

His efforts were nearly wasted — as many of his performances have been the past two weeks — when the Knicks let a 17-point lead shrink to 3 by the final minutes of the game. But the Knicks (8-14) held on, earning just their third victory in 11 home games.

For one night, the theme song at the Garden changed, from angry boos to joyful chants of “Ed-dy,” which poured out in the final seconds, as some fans rose for a standing ovation.

“That’s definitely a change,” Curry said with a wry chuckle, “especially here in the Garden. It’s a good change, though. Hopefully, we can get more of that.”

It will take many more such efforts, and playoff victories, before Curry earns a place alongside the Knicks’ legendary big men. But statistically, he is already in good company.

No Knicks center has had a 20-point streak this long in more than a decade, since Patrick Ewing had 13 straight from April 10, 1994 to Nov. 12, 1994. This is the best scoring streak by a Knick at any position since guard Allan Houston had 10 straight 20-point games from Jan. 26 to Feb. 17, 1998.

Curry was electric in the third quarter, scoring 14 points as the Knicks expanded the lead to 17 from 3. But it was at the other end of the court that Curry at last won some love from the home crowd. In a matter of minutes, he blocked a dunk attempt by Bogut and a layup attempt by Ruben Patterson, bringing huge roars from the stands.

The Knicks won largely without their starting backcourt. Steve Francis is resting a tendinitis-stricken knee, and Stephon Marbury spent the final 16 minutes 40 seconds on the bench after bruising his left forearm. X-rays were negative. Marbury said he could not dribble with his left hand, but predicted he would play tomorrow night against Boston.

Before going to the bench, Marbury had nine assists in 24 minutes. Jamal Crawford started for Francis and finished with 25 points and 9 assists. The Knicks had a season-high 31 assists.

The Knicks sputtered in the fourth quarter as Curry got throttled for a time by the physical defense of Brian Skinner. Curry complained to the referees about Skinner’s play but got the final word, hitting a hook over Skinner to push the lead to 108-101 with 1:29 to play.

“He’s gone from a guy who you kind of wondered where he was and now the second he’s not in the game, there’s a huge void in the middle,” Thomas said. “His presence has pretty much been overwhelming.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/sports/basketball/10knicks.html?_r=1&ref=basketball&oref=slogin

I love this QRich quote. He is the leader of this team. He should be the captain.

“Nobody can handle Eddy,” said Quentin Richardson, repeating the statement for emphasis. “There’s only one person in the league that’s even big enough, and he’s hurt right now. Nobody else can handle him.”

Richardson meant Shaquille O’Neal of the Miami Heat. A few weeks ago, Houston’s Yao Ming overpowered Curry, but Richardson said that was a different Curry.

“I don’t think he can handle Eddy either, to be honest with you,” Richardson said of Yao. “I know how Eddy’s capable of playing.”

Posted by SugarRayRichardson:

Q is our captain named or not! :)

Q should be named captain. He's the smartest player on the team not named Lee and Lee is only in his second year. He plays both sides of the ball and plays hard. He's got a good heart and a good head.