NEW YORK, 25 January 2005 — A new coach was unable to change New York’s fortunes on Sunday as Desmond Mason scored 22 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 101-96 win over the Knicks, spoiling Herb Williams’s Madison Square Garden debut.
Williams took over the beleaguered Knicks from Hall of Fame coach Lenny Wilkens after he stepped down on Saturday, but was unable to inspire his charges as they slumped to a season-high sixth consecutive defeat and 10th in 11 games.
“I’m going to get things a little more towards defense,” Williams said. “Tonight, it was not only our rebounding but our perimeter play.
“We’ll get better.”
Stephon Marbury had a game-high 33 for the Knicks but the Bucks answered with a balanced attack getting double figure efforts from six players to register their third win in four. In Phoenix, Amare Stoudemire had 33 points and Steve Nash added a season-high 30 as the Suns ended a six-game losing run with a 113-105 win over the New Jersey Nets.
The Suns had been the NBA’s best team for most of the season until their recent tailspin saw them replaced at the top of the standings by the San Antonio Spurs. Vince Carter had 32 points for the Nets while Jason Kidd added 23 along with eight rebounds and eight assists. In Sacramento, Tim Duncan poured in 23 points and added 13 rebounds as the Spurs pounded the streaking Kings 103-73, improving their NBA-best record to 34-9.
Unbeaten in six games, Sacramento were unable to compete with the Spurs, who roared to a 14-point first quarter lead and never took their foot off the gas in handing the Kings their worst home defeat in more than seven years.
In Toronto, Morris Peterson had 26 points and Jalen Rose came off the bench to score 22 to lead the Raptors to a 103-92 win over the Charlotte Bobcats.
Chris Bosh contributed 21 points and eight rebounds for the Raptors, who are turning into one of the NBA’s top home teams having now won five straight at the Air Canada Centre and 10 of their last 11.
In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki notched 35 points, including a key lay-up and free throw with 17 seconds remaining, as the streaking Mavericks squeezed past the Denver Nuggets 95-93 to collect their fifth consecutive win.
Nowitzki also had 11 rebounds while Jerry Stackhouse contributed 11 points and 12 rebounds.
to send the Nuggets to their ninth road loss in 10 games.
In Miami, Dwyane Wade had 18 points and Shaquille O’Neal added 12 but it was more than enough offense to get the job done as the Heat crushed the woeful New Orleans Hornets 97-68.
The Hornets placed only two players in double figures, Dan Dickau with 16 and Rodney Rogers adding 10, as New Orleans fell to a woeful 7-33.
In Seattle, Rashard Lewis nailed 36 points and Antonio Daniels added 24 and eight assists, sparking the SuperSonics to 122-105 win over the Utah Jazz.
Carlos Boozer led the Jazz with 20 points while Andrei Kirilenko scored 14 in only his second game back after missing most of the season with a sprained knee.
