Szczerbiak tied his previous career-high of 28 by halftime and finished with 35 points Tuesday night as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the New York Knicks 104-94.

Szczerbiak made 11 of 14 shots in the first half and finished 14-for-19, although he was sitting with four fouls for the much of the third quarter when the Timberwolves made a decisive 24-5 run.

"Guys were looking for me on open shots," Szczerbiak said. "The coaches told me everything eventually will come together, but if you chase something you'll never get it. You have to let it come to you."

During one six-minute stretch of the first half, Szczerbiak scored 15 consecutive Timberwolves points, hitting long-range jumpers, driving layups and putbacks.

"A guy like that, if you let him get off early and get confident like that, he's going to be dangerous," Knicks guard Allan Houston said. "Our defense on him was poor, and he can make you pay."

But after picking up his fourth foul early in the third quarter, Szczerbiak went to the bench with his team up 60-58. Over the next 7 minutes, Terrell Brandon scored eight points and Anthony Peeler had seven as the Wolves built an 82-63 lead.

"It was almost like a blessing," Szczerbiak said. "The team was getting a little tentative waiting for me to shoot."

New York rallied within seven points in the fourth quarter, relying on its bench for 43 points on a night when leading scorers Latrell Sprewell and Houston struggled for much of the game.

Houston scored seven consecutive points to pull New York to 88-81 with 8:41 to play, but Szczerbiak answered with his first second-half basket, a 3-pointer from the left corner, to restore a 10-point lead.

Houston finished with 17 points, but the Knicks struggled from the free throw line, making only 20 of 34. Sprewell, a career 80 percent free-throw shooter, made just four of 10 and scored 14 points.

"The whole team is down," Sprewell said. "Ninety-four points should be enough to win. We need to get back to being a defensive team."

The Knicks' bench kept them in the game, particularly in the second quarter, when backup guards Charlie Ward and Shandon Anderson scored 10 points each. New York got 26 of its 30 second-quarter points from its reserves.

Kevin Garnett added 19 points for Minnesota, 12 in the second half, and pulled down 13 rebounds.

Game Notes
Szczerbiak's first half fell two points short of the team record for points in a half set by Tony Campbell in the second half against Boston, Feb. 2, 1990. ... Houston's third-quarter 3-pointer was his 100th as a Knick, joining John Starks and Trent Tucker as the only players in franchise history to reach the mark. ... The Knicks are the only team Minnesota did not beat in 2000-2001. ... Rasho Nesterovic scored 12 points for Minnesota and his 36 minutes were three short of his career-high. ... The Wolves began a stretch of eight consecutive games against Eastern Conference teams. ... Sprewell played his 600th NBA game. ... After appealing to the league office, Ward had a flagrant foul category two reduced to a flagrant category one for a foul he committed in the season opener.