NEW YORK, Jan. 21 (Ticker) -- It's hard to imagine things getting any worse for the New York Knicks.

A Martin Luther King day matinee quickly turned into a horror show as the reeling Knicks suffered the worst home loss in franchise history, a 111-68 beating at the hands of the Charlotte Hornets.

"I thought they threw in the towel," Knicks coach Don Chaney said after the team's eighth straight loss. "I just thought they gave up. They really did."

"It can't get any worse, I don't believe," Knicks forward Kurt Thomas said.

Mired in their worst slide in nearly 15 years, the Knicks were held to a season low in points. They trailed by 20 points less than 10 minutes into the game and by as many as 45 in garbage time. They were roundly booed throughout by the sellout crowd of 19,763, many of whom did not show up or left early, hoping to still make something of their holiday.

"I don't blame 'em," Knicks guard Latrell Sprewell said. "We got exactly what we deserved."

"This was the worst way we represented ourselves since I've been here," said guard Allan Houston, a Knick since 1996.

Sprewell was one of the primary culprits. Arriving 45 minutes late, the All-Star guard shot 0-of-9 from the field and was held scoreless for just the second time in his career.

"He's been doing that for two years, so that's nothing different," said Chaney, who indicated Sprewell would be fined. "When a player comes in the locker room has nothing to do with his performance on the floor."

Neither does past history. Despite their slump, the Knicks came in with eight straight home wins over Charlotte and had been virtually unbeatable on the holiday, going 13-2 with four straight wins.

The Hornets quickly put those notions to rest, using a 22-0 run to turn the game into a rout before the end of the first quarter. The Knicks got no closer than 17 points thereafter.

"It's very difficult to get blown out, on the occasion (of the day)," Chaney said. Our guys weren't focused enough to compete."

"An embarrassment," Knicks guard Mark Jackson said. "Bad basketball. I can't really tell you what it is, but it is bad basketball. From top to bottom, from beginning to end. Just bad."

Baron Davis had 24 points and nine assists to lead the Hornets, who had six players in double figures and won in New York for the first time since February 2, 1997. Charlotte shot 51 percent (40-of-78) and ended a two-game skid but was aware that it came against a team in trouble.

"They're going through rough times right now," Hornets coach Paul Silas said. "I'd like to think we really played well. We haven't played well (of late) and the team comes in and plays really well."

After a dunk by Marcus Camby made it 11-11 with 7:49 left in the first quarter, the Knicks went six minutes without a point. Davis and David Wesley scored eight points each in the surge and Wesley's two foul shots made it 33-11 with 2:01 remaining.

"Everything just kind of clicked," Silas said. "Everything you do works, nothing they did works. It's unexplainable."

The Knicks trailed 39-19 after one quarter and were even worse in the second period, when they made just 3-of-18 shots. Jamaal Magloire's dunk gave the Hornets a 60-33 halftime lead.

Chaney, who is 4-16 since taking over for Jeff Van Gundy, pointed to the recent lack of production from Houston, Sprewell and ailing Camby. Chaney said he would strongly consider changing his lineup.

"I haven't ruled anybody out," he said. "We have to have some changes. We have to have at least a chance in the first quarter."

The trio averages better than 52 points per game but combined for just 17 on 7-of-30 shooting.

"If I was him I'd blame it on us," Sprewell said. "We need to start pushing each other and forcing guys to play harder."

"Sometimes you're in a game and you think you're playing, but you're not," Houston said. "This has been a snowball effect. It's been going on a couple weeks."

Charlotte led by at least 26 points in the second half. Lee Nailon had 12 of his 16 points in the third quarter, including a short runner that gave the Hornets a 92-49 lead in the final minute.

The entire fourth quarter was garbage time. A jumper by rookie 12th man Kirk Haston gave Charlotte its largest lead at 111-66 with 1:51 to play. Some of the few fans who stuck around until the end began a chant of "Refund!"

"We don't have the same fire and passion," said Sprewell, who was blanked for the first time since November 9, 1995 against Atlanta, when he was with Golden State. "We lost that somewhere along the way."

Wesley scored 16 points, Elden Campbell added 13 and Magloire 12 for the Hornets, who made 6-of-11 3-pointers and 25-of-30 free throws. It was Charlotte's best defensive effort of the season.

"Usually we let teams right back in the ballgame," Davis said. "I think that today our defensive intensity was there the whole game."

Thomas had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Othella Harrington scored 14 points for the Knicks, who were beaten on the boards, 48-37. New York's previous worst home loss was a 132-93 beating by Milwaukee on April 10, 1987.

"When there are situations like this, it's easy to quit," Sprewell said. "We'll see who accepts the challenge and who runs away."