Curry and the Knicks won the season series last year.

Knicks exploit Magic's zone defense on way to victory
Team Stat Comparison
NEW YORK ORLANDO
Points 94 86
FG Made-Attempted 31-62 (.500) 29-77 (.377)
3P Made-Attempted 5-20 (.250) 2-16 (.125)
FT Made-Attempted 27-41 (.659) 26-36 (.722)
Rebounds (Offensive-Total) 8-43 16-38
Assists 17 15
Turnovers 18 14
Steals 7 8
Blocks 3 1
Fast Break Points 11 10
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant) 28 (0/0) 27 (0/0)
Largest Lead 17 2
Top Performers
NEW YORK ORLANDO
E. Curry
Points: 27
Reb: 6
Ast: 1
Stl: 0
Blk: 0 D. Milicic
Points: 19
Reb: 6
Ast: 0
Stl: 1
Blk: 1


Game Leaders
NEW YORK ORLANDO
Points E. Curry 27 D. Milicic 19
Rebounds Q. Richardson 12 D. Howard 11
Assists Q. Richardson 4 J. Nelson 6
Steals Q. Richardson 2 K. Bogans 2
Blocks J. James 2 D. Milicic 1
· Team stats: New York | Orlando

2006-07 Season
New York leads 2-1
>Feb 3, 2007 NY 94, @ORL 86 Recap | Box Score
Feb 20, 2007 @NY 100, ORL 94 Recap | Box Score
Mar 26, 2007 ORL 94, @NY 89 Recap | Box Score

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- The New York Knicks have been talking about Eddy Curry as an All-Star-caliber player, and now the Orlando Magic are, too.
Curry, passed over when the All-Star reserves were announced last week, was definitely the star against the Magic, scoring 27 points, most of them on brute force alone, to lead New York to a 94-86 victory Saturday night.

"Eddy showed tonight he should have been on the All-Star team," Knicks forward David Lee said.

But Curry didn't, probably because the Knicks are well below .500.

"I was upset I didn't make the All-Star team because I felt with the season I was having, I should have been there," Curry said.

Added teammate Jamal Crawford: "Eddy's one of the best centers in the league and the more we win, the more he'll be acknowledged."

The 6-foot-11, 285-pound Curry hit 10 of 13 shots against a variety of defenses, none of which slowed him from getting to the basket. Orlando tried playing Curry straight up, switched to a zone, then went back to man-to-man, but never found a solution.

"We had no answer for Eddy Curry," Magic coach Brian Hill said. "He did pretty much whatever he wanted to do."

The only way the Magic could stop Curry was to foul, which they did a lot. All-Star center Dwight Howard had five fouls and his backup, Darko Milicic got six trying to deal with Curry.

"He's one of the few guys in this league where you have to change what you do to deal with him," said Magic forward Pat Garrity, who was part of the zone defense that failed to stop Curry. "He's just so strong and has such good moves that you can't play him straight up and be successful too much."

Stephon Marbury had 14 points and six assists for New York, which held Orlando to just 37.7 percent shooting for the game.

Milicic led the Magic with a career-high 19 points. Howard added 15 points and 11 rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu had 13 points, but hit only four of 15 shots.

New York led by 15 points at halftime and maintained a double-digit led through most of the second half until Magic rookie J.J. Redick hit a layup with 1:30 left in the game to cut New York's lead to 91-82.

Howard slammed home a dunk with 57 seconds to play to make it 92-86 and the Magic forced a miss on New York's next possession, but the rally died quickly. Turkoglu misfired from 3-point range and Crawford hit two free throws with 15 seconds to play to finish the scoring.

New York shot 68.8 percent in the second period to open up a 49-34 halftime advantage. Channing Frye scored 13 points in the period, hitting six of eight shots, including a 3-pointer.

The Knicks dominated at the defensive end as well. Jerome James replaced Frye in the starting lineup and helped spark New York's strong defensive effort.

"I think Jerome is one of the best defensive big men in the game in terms of the center position," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said. "I thought he could give Eddy a little more support."

Game notes
Crawford, averaging 30.4 points in his last five games, scored only six points on 1-of-4 shooting. Howard has never missed a game in his NBA career, a streak of 212 straight games. ... James has played in only 17 games. He had four points and three rebounds in 15 minutes. ... New York shot 50 percent from the field (31-of-62). The Knicks are 11-1 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field. ... Orlando has lost four of its last six home games. ... Knicks F Quentin Richardson narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds.

Tue, Feb 20 Orlando W 100-94 24-30 Crawford 20
Curry 20 Lee 16 Marbury 4
Crawford, Curry lead Knicks past Magic
Team Stat Comparison
ORLANDO NEW YORK
Points 94 100
FG Made-Attempted 36-85 (.424) 31-63 (.492)
3P Made-Attempted 5-13 (.385) 8-21 (.381)
FT Made-Attempted 17-25 (.680) 30-37 (.811)
Rebounds (Offensive-Total) 20-40 14-42
Assists 14 14
Turnovers 16 21
Steals 16 10
Blocks 4 4
Fast Break Points 20 12
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant) 24 (0/0) 23 (0/0)
Largest Lead 8 10

Top Performers
ORLANDO NEW YORK
D. Howard
Points: 27
Reb: 14
Ast: 0
Stl: 3
Blk: 3
D. Lee
Points: 14
Reb: 16
Ast: 2
Stl: 2
Blk: 2


Game Leaders
ORLANDO NEW YORK
Points D. Howard 27 J. Crawford 20
Rebounds D. Howard 14 D. Lee 16
Assists C. Arroyo 3 S. Marbury 4
Steals D. Howard 3 E. Curry 3
Blocks D. Howard 3 D. Lee 2
· Team stats: Orlando | New York

2006-07 Season
New York leads 2-1
Feb 3, 2007 NY 94, @ORL 86 Recap | Box Score
>Feb 20, 2007 @NY 100, ORL 94 Recap | Box Score
Mar 26, 2007 ORL 94, @NY 89 Recap | Box Score




NEW YORK -- The New York Knicks aren't satisfied with just surpassing last season's win total.


The Knicks reached their 24th victory, beating last season's total, with a 100-94 victory over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night.

Elias Says

LeeDavid Lee collected 16 rebounds in 36 minutes in the Knicks' 100-94 victory over the Magic. The second-year pro has averaged 10.7 rebounds per game this season (sixth in the league) while shooting a league-leading 61.1 percent from the floor.

Know this: Only four players in NBA history have shot 60 percent from the floor while averaging at least 10 rebounds per game in the same season: Wilt Chamberlain (who did it three times), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who did it once, in the 1979-80 season), Artis Gilmore (who did it an NBA-record five times) and Shaquille O'Neal (once, in 2004-05).
• Read more Elias Says.


"We've got a lot more wins we're trying to get, so for us to get 24 we wish we would have gotten it in the first half. That would mean we'd be doing that much better and we'd be that much closer," said Quentin Richardson. "It's about trying to get as many wins as we can so we can get one of those playoff spots."

New York is three games behind Orlando and Miami for the eighth playoff spot.

"We're a better team than we were last year," said Stephon Marbury, who scored 14 points on his 30th birthday. "It's just a win. Last year is last year."

Jamal Crawford and Eddy Curry scored 20 points each to lead the Knicks, who have finished last season at 23-59.

J.J. Redick's 3-pointer at the buzzer helped Orlando close to 79-76 at the end of the third quarter.

However, the Magic did not get any closer the rest of the way, as the Knicks increased their lead to 91-81 on Stephon Marbury's 3-pointer with 5:31 left.

Orlando cut the deficit back to three on Jameer Nelson's 3-pointer with 1:20 left.

Curry's ensuing dunk made it 96-91 with 58 seconds remaining, and after Darko Milicic's free throw brought the Magic with four, Marbury and Crawford hit free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

David Lee pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds and added 14 points for the Knicks.

"A lot of things were accomplished here today," Lee said. "We knew it would be a tough game. Both teams were rusty early. We got in a rhythm late and were able to hold them off."

Howard finished with 27 points and 14 rebounds for the Magic.

"This might be one of the teams we battle for one of the positions for the playoffs," Howard said. "They are a great team right now that plays together."

The Knicks fell behind 8-0 before Richardson scored their first points of the game on a three-pointer with 8:44 left in the opening quarter. That sparked an 8-0 run that concluded with another Richardson three-pointer.

"Last year, we're probably doomed from the beginning," Curry said. "But this year we're going into games thinking we could win every single game."The Knicks took their first lead of the game, 15-13, on Curry's basket with 4:20 to go in the first quarter, and finished the period up 23-22.

Orlando grabbed a 31-28 lead early in the second quarter, but the Knicks went on a 9-0 run and opened up their biggest lead of the half, 37-31 on Steve Francis' jumper with 6:10 left.

However, the Magic responded by scoring the next six points, tying the game on a Milicic dunk.

The teams traded baskets until Crawford's three-pointer gave the Knicks their 49-45 halftime lead.

Game notes
Orlando's Grant Hill returned to the starting lineup after missing the previous seven games with a right knee sprain Howard has played in a franchise-record 218 straight games for the Magic. Crawford leads the Knick with 85 consecutive games played Jerome James started his sixth consecutive game for the Knicks. He played the first 5:18, committed two fouls and two turnovers, missed his only shot attempt, and did not return.



Mon, Mar 26 Orlando L 89-94 30-40 Marbury 32 Frye 7 Marbury 4
Robinson 4
NEW YORK -- With one big block, Dwight Howard boosted Orlando's playoff chances and severely damaged New York's.


But was it actually a block?
Elias Says



HowardDwight Howard had 14 rebounds in Orlando's win over the Knicks. It was the ninth straight game of at least 10 rebounds for Howard, tying a career long. Shaquille O'Neal is the only other player in Orlando history to have nine straight games of at least 10 rebounds. Shaq had six such streaks, with his longest for the Magic being 18 games in 1993-94.


• Read more Elias Says.



Howard's questionable rejection kept the game tied in the final minute, and Jameer Nelson followed with a 3-pointer with 38 second remaining that helped the Magic send the Knicks to their season-high fourth straight loss, 94-89 Monday night.
"That was clear as day it was goaltending," Knicks guard Stephon Marbury said.

Nelson also made the tying 3-pointer with 1:06 left and finished with 18 points for Orlando, which got its second consecutive key victory in the race for a playoff berth and moved into sole possession of seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

Marbury drove into the lane on the next trip and seemed to have a layup before Howard leaped high to swat it away. Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said the official "missed it," but Magic coach Brian Hill said he didn't think it was "anywhere near close to being goaltending."

As for Howard's take?

"The ref said it was clean, so I guess it's clean," he said.

Either way, it helped Orlando snap a tie with New Jersey in the standings. The Magic were coming off a victory over the Nets, who are two games ahead of 10th-place New York for the last spot.

"It's a big win, not just because we're just a game apart in the loss column, (but) getting another road win," Hill said. "They're all going to be big down the stretch here. Certainly though, with a team that we're battling in the standings, there is added significance."

Hedo Turkoglu also scored 18 points for Orlando. Tony Battie added 14 points and Howard had 10 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots.

Stephon Marbury scored 32 points for the fading Knicks, who have lost six of seven. Eddy Curry scored 17 points for injury-depleted New York, which was a dismal 23-of-37 (62 percent) from the foul line and fell to a season-high 10 games under .500.

"It's definitely tough," forward Jared Jeffries said. "We need to get some wins."

David Lee has missed the last two games after making a somewhat surprising return from an 11-game absence with an injured right leg. With Jamal Crawford and Quentin Richardson also out, the Knicks were forced to give more minutes than usual to rookies Renaldo Balkman and Mardy Collins.

Though Thomas tried to somewhat downplay the importance of this game, time appears to be running out for the Knicks, who face tough games against Cleveland and Dallas this week.

The Knicks finally hit their free throws when it mattered. With New York trailing by five, Marbury made a layup, then Nate Robinson and Marbury each made a pair of free throws to give the Knicks an 83-82 lead with 2:25 remaining.

Curry then converted a three-point play, pushing the lead to 86-82 with 1:51 left. But Orlando tied it at 87 on Nelson's 3-pointer with 1:06 to go, and after Howard's block, Nelson knocked down another 3 to make it 90-87 with 38 seconds remaining.

"Every shot we take right now during this little stretch is a big shot," Nelson said. "My teammates know that I like to take the big shot in the games, so they found me."

Marbury made another pair of free throws to cut it to one, but Turkoglu answered with a pair before Howard added another block on a drive by Robinson.

"Dwight's blocks were huge, but that's what All-Stars do," Hill said. "He came from the weak side and made two huge blocks down the stretch. He stepped up when the game was on the line."

Orlando shot 61 percent in the first quarter to open a 23-21 lead. The game was still tied before Balkman had a pair of fast-break dunks in the final minute, giving New York a 49-45 lead at halftime.

Marbury had 19 points at halftime. But he didn't have a field goal in the third quarter, when the Knicks were just 5-of-15 from the field and committed eight turnovers while being outscored 25-15, giving the Magic a 70-64 lead heading to the fourth.

Game notes
Randolph Morris, who signed with the Knicks on Friday less than a week after playing in the NCAA tournament for Kentucky, did not play. ... The Knicks had won both previous meetings this season ... Trevor Ariza, sent to Orlando last year in the trade that brought Steve Francis to New York, scored six points. A frustrated Francis, who didn't practice Sunday because of the flu, had only one point in 12 minutes. "It's hard man, it's definitely hard being a veteran," Francis said. "Last week playing 44 minutes to this week playing 2 minutes. It's tough."

nice. good find.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Statistical flukes don't replicate. I'd trade the whole team for D. Howard and still feel that we were ripping off Orlando

Even with the multiple unprotected lottery picks thrown in it just wouldn't be enough to get it done.


With Curry being in such great shape to start the season it's amazing he looked like he didn't have enough in the tank to go against the defensive force in Foyle for 30min.