Knicks rally in second half to put away Nets

By Adam Zagoria, for NBA.com
Posted Sunday December 6, 2009 3:53PM

NEW YORK (NBA.com exclusive) -- With his team trailing the one-win New Jersey Nets by eight points at halftime Sunday, Al Harrington had a pointed message for his teammates.

"We can't lose to the Nets," Harrington told his teammates in the locker room.

Al Harrington had team highs with 26 points and 14 rebounds.

Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images

The Knicks simply couldn't afford to become just the second team this season to lose to the Nets. So they collected themselves, put on a zone defense and played an aggressive second half in which they outscored New Jersey, 53-36, en route to a 106-97 victory before 19,602 at Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks (6-15) have now won two straight and three of four heading into Monday's game with the Greg Oden-less Portland Trail Blazers at the Garden.

"It's no disrespect to [the Nets], but if we want to start taking steps forward and going in the right direction, we gotta win games versus teams like the Nets," said Harrington, who posted team-highs of 26 points and 14 rebounds to go with five assists. "So everybody just came out [in the second half] with a renewed energy."

The Nets (1-19) lost their first 18 games of the season to set a new NBA record before finally beating Charlotte, 97-91, on Friday.

Still, Harrington didn't want to give them victory No. 2.

"We don't want to be that guy," said Harrington, who has been the leading scorer in four of his team's six wins. "We're happy they won the other day, though, so we didn't have to worry about that today."

Despite rumors that the Knicks might trade Harrington to Chicago for Tyrus Thomas, Knicks president Donnie Walsh said he's not actively shopping the 11-year veteran.

"I'm not focused on trading Al. I'm not out there trying to trade Al," Walsh said before the game.

Larry Hughes scored 16 of his 25 points off the bench in the decisive third period when the Knicks outscored the Nets, 33-18, and turned a 61-53 halftime deficit into an 86-79 advantage. Hughes made more foul shots (14 of 17) in the game than the entire Nets team.

He was fouled by Josh Boone while shooting a 3-pointer to open the third quarter and made all three free throws to cut the deficit to 61-56.

"I was just a little bit more aggressive," Hughes said. "My teammates started looking for me more. Also, getting to the free throw line, which can get anybody going. It makes jump shots and things that much easier when you can get to the free throw line.

"They just gave me the ball and told me to make some plays."

After Hughes made one more foul shot to cut the lead to 63-57, the crowd let out some fairly loud chants of "We want Nate."

But for the third straight game, Knicks guard Nate Robinson had a "DNP -- Coach's Decision" next to his name in the box score because he resides in head coach Mike D'Antoni's dog house.

"It felt good," D'Antoni cracked about how the cheers felt for him. "That's not going to change anything. It is what it is."

Asked for his reaction to the coach's comments, Robinson said: "I'm just waiting patiently. Whenever my number's called, I'll be ready."

Robinson said he hadn't spoken with D'Antoni about why he is sitting and when asked if it was disheartening, he said, "No, not at all."

He added: "We're winning. He's going with the guys that he thinks can help this team win and we've been winning. So I wouldn't change anything as well."

The Knicks led by as many as 10 points, 91-81, on a basket by Hughes but the Nets closed to within 93-90 on a drive by Courtney Lee.

But the Knicks got back-to-back putbacks by Wilson Chandler and Harrington and two foul shots from Danilo Gallinari to push the lead to 99-90.

"We did exactly what we wanted to and the Knicks countered very well," Nets coach Kiki Vandeweghe said. "Larry Hughes played exceptionally well and I think Al Harrington is a tough matchup for us. I was proud the way our guys competed. This is a learning lesson for us."

David Lee added 24 points and nine rebounds and Gallinari scored 11 points, including a key fourth-quarter 3-pointer, despite playing with a sleeve on his sore right forearm. He leads the NBA with 59 3-pointers.

The Knicks outrebounded the Nets 48-32 for their largest margin for the season.

Chris Douglas-Roberts paced the Nets with 26 points and Brook Lopez and Devin Harris added 19 apiece.

The Nets were without 7-foot center Yi Jianlian, who took 50 stitches after getting elbowed in the mouth during practice Saturday by Sean Williams. Yi had missed the previous 15 games with a sprained right MCL. He was averaging 9.8 points and 7.5 rebounds before he was injured in the third quarter of a game at Charlotte on Nov. 2.

Nets coach Kiki Vandeweghe said Yi would be reevaluated Dec. 14.

• Nets: Hayes, Najera, Yi
• Knicks: Curry, Mobley

• Nets: --
• Knicks: --

• Lead Changes: 16
• Times Tied: 9

• Arena: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
• Officials: #41 Ken Mauer, #33 Sean Corbin, #61 Courtney Kirkland
• Attendance: 19602
• Duration: 2:18