I thought what Stephon and Jamal said was interesting

http://www.nba.com/games/20041219/UTANYK/recap.html

Crawford Carries Knicks

NEW YORK, Dec. 19 (Ticker) -- With the game on the line, taking a deep jump shot never crossed Jamal Crawford's mind.

Crawford scored 11 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and buried a clutch short jumper with 26 seconds remaining as the Knicks edged the struggling Utah Jazz, 94-93.

A streaky shooter, Crawford badly misfired on a 16-foot pull-up with six seconds left in Wednesday's one-point loss to Detroit. After that miss led to criticism of his shot selection, Crawford endured a sleepless night and watched the replay of the game.

"I'm harder on myself than anybody else," said Crawford, a 39 percent shooter who has won a pair of games with buzzer-beating 3-pointers. "I have really high expectations."

Crawford struggled through Friday's 113-107 overtime win in Philadelphia, making just 4-of-17 shots. He missed his first six attempts in this one.

But with a five-point lead reduced to 88-86, Crawford sank one his biggest shots as a Knick. Instead of taking a mid-range jumper, the 6-5 guard aggressively drove the lane and used a nice crossover move on Raja Bell before making a one-handed leaner for a 90-86 edge.

"The Detroit situation played in my head," Crawford said. "I'm not shooting a jumper, there's no way. I'm going to the hole. I'm glad I learned that in game 20 or 21 instead of the playoffs."

"I called him and told him it was spilled milk and that there was nothing he could do about it now," Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury said. "He felt like he let the whole city down. That is how much he loves New York."

After Utah guard Carlos Arroyo's layup sliced the lead to 90-88 with 18 seconds left, Crawford sank a pair at the line for a four-point edge.

Crawford made 7-of-16 shots, including 3-of-8 from the arc. He and Marbury combined to score 19 of New York's final 21 points, leading the Knicks to their fourth win in five games and pushing them two games above .500 (12-10) for the second time this season.

"That's a big win for us," Crawford said. "Quietly we've won four of five."

Crawford also converted a four-point play with four minutes to go that gave the Knicks an 83-81 lead. It was New York's second four-point play of the season and 18th all-time.

Marbury had 19 points and 12 assists, reserve Mike Sweetney chipped in 13 points and Kurt Thomas pulled down 14 rebounds for the Knicks, who snapped a six-game home losing streak to the Jazz.

Mehmet Okur nailed a 3-pointer with four-tenths of a second left but it was too late for Utah, which has lost seven in a row on the road for the first time since the 1986-87 season.

"We have to figure this out because we've got to start winning," Jazz forward Matt Harpring said. "We play good for three quarters and we get the lead, and then we lose. There is no almost, you either lose or you win."

Harpring scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half and helped Utah erase a 12-point deficit midway through the second quarter. Bell scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half and hit a big 3-pointer on the possession before Crawford went past him.

The Jazz (10-15) have dropped 14 of their last 18 games. They are 2-9 since All-Star forward Andrei Kirilenko was placed on the injured list with right knee injury.

"I thought we tried harder," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "You can only feel sorry for yourself for so long and then someday you're either going to get up and fight or lay down in the corner in the fetal position for the rest of your career."