Knicks Look for Fifth Win in Six Tries at Home vs. Mavericks

After dropping a tough road decision to the defensive-minded Spurs on Tuesday, the Knicks set season highs in points, shooting percentage and margin of victory against the Grizzlies on Wednesday, followed by their best first half of the season two nights later in a 116-106 home win over the Thunder.

The Knicks have won five of their last six to improve to 6-3 and are off to their best start since the lockout-delayed 1998-99 season, when they became the first No. 8 seed in NBA history to advance to the NBA Finals. .

After scoring 72 points in the second half of their 132-103 victory in Memphis, the Knicks exploded for a season-high 68 first-half points against the Thunder, but watched a 30-point lead early in the third quarter get trimmed to eight with 5:13 left in regulation.

Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford scored a combined 10 points in the final four minutes to help the Knicks hold off a strong Thunder attack, as New York defeated a Western Conference team for the third time this season, after going just 3-27 against the West last year.

“The way we play, up-tempo, it can happen like that,” Randolph said. “The way we play, teams can come back and get hot, or we can get cold, and that's what we did tonight. But all the guys played hard and we finished the game out.”

Randolph and Crawford scored 29 apiece, while David Lee added 18 off the bench on 7-for-8 shooting from the field. Randolph added 19 rebounds and recorded his seventh straight double-double by the end of the first half.

“He’s a stat-gatherer. He’s unbelievable,” Knicks Head Coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He was 29-19 and he was 17-12 at halftime. He just knows how to play the game.”

Nate Robinson picked up right where he left off in his 8-for-8 shooting performance in Memphis on Friday, knocking down his first five shots, including a 3-pointer, to extend his streak to 13 straight field goals.

Johnny Newman holds the Knicks' record for consecutive made field goals, hitting 19 in a row from Jan. 1-8, 1988.

The Mavericks, who have had some success against the Knicks over the past few years, are coming to town looking to snap a five-game skid.

After winning two of their first three, including a 98-81 triumph in San Antonio, the Mavs have dropped five straight.

Dallas appeared on its way to snapping its losing streak against the Orlando Magic on Friday, but saw a 15-point fourth-quarter lead disappear in the closing seconds of a 102-100 loss.

Dirk Nowitzki is leading the Mavericks with averages of 22.3 points and 7.0 rebounds, while Josh Howard contributes 18.7 and 8.0 per game.

The two teams will wrap up its season series in Dallas on Jan. 8.