With Michael Finley and Ray Allen having missed games because of injuries, the NBA's longest consecutive-games streak now belongs to Shandon Anderson of the New York Knicks.
Anderson extended his streak to 365 games Sunday night as the Knicks played the Orlando Magic.
Finley's streak of 490 games ended Saturday when he was held out of Dallas' game against the Atlanta Hawks because of a sore left hamstring. A knee injury ended Allen's streak of 388 games earlier this month.
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Dec 31, 2001 10:55 AM EST
The Magic will stay in New York an extra day because they don't play at Boston until Wednesday. No one in the Magic camp is disappointed.
New Year's Eve in the Big Apple? Ah, the possibilities.
And Magic Coach Doc Rivers won't impose any special rules for tonight. There is no practice today, either.
"They're adults," Rivers said. "Treating them like kids gets you in trouble. I just try to tell them to stay out of dangerous situations."
For most of the players, this is their first New Year's Eve in New York. It's odd, considering they travel so much, but most of them have had games elsewhere on this day.
"It's fun," Magic forward Jud Buechler said. "I'm not going to be going down to Times Square or anything, but I'm looking forward to it. I always love coming here."
A return to normalcy
Because of an unforgiving schedule and injuries of late, the Magic have had one formal practice in the past month.
"And we haven't had a quality practice since training camp," Rivers said.
All that will change now that the Magic enter a portion of the schedule that's more spread out -- and now that they have enough healthy players.
They'll have their first practice between games in three weeks Tuesday in New Jersey before flying to Boston.
The Magic have played 32 games in 62 days so far this season, including playing eight times on back-to-back nights. It's the most brutal stretch any team in the NBA has played.
"That's been difficult," Rivers said. "We've used shootarounds more than we ever had. And I don't even like shootarounds, really. From this point on, though, we'll have time to rest, practice and gather ourselves."
It's a difficult job
Rivers said he doesn't know if he could handle being in Knicks interim coach Don Chaney's situation.
"I think taking any interim job is impossible," said Rivers, who served as an assistant coach in Atlanta.
"You want to do things your way, but things have already been set another way. I couldn't do that."
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Dec 31, 2001 10:53 AM EST
The big man, so long the anchor, was leading the cheers, giddy like no one had ever seen him. Patrick Ewing was slapping hands, rubbing heads, hugging bodies. He was pretending to punch teammates in the stomach. He was pulling on jersey shirts.
What the Magic did here Sunday night was improbable, special and might turn around their season.
Down 16 points with 7 minutes, 40 seconds remaining, they kept hustling, disregarding a scoreboard that said quit and snatched a 94-90 victory from the New York Knicks (13-17) with a 24-4 run.
And Ewing, who spent 15 years here and became a superstar while giving Madison Square Garden fans many memories, watched from the bench in pleasure.
“We could have very easily given up,” Ewing said, flashing that sun-bright grin, “but we fought back.” The Magic (15-17) are alive again. Their eyes and voices said so. They went to a small lineup late in the game, and their hustle won it.
It was point guard Darrell Armstrong running down a streaking Latrell Sprewell and causing him to miss a layup. It was Pat Garrity — the center in this lineup! — diving to beat Marcus Camby for a rebound. It was Troy Hudson, on his way to 15 points and eight rebounds, making the Knicks' defenders look as if they had on roller skates. It was Mike Miller, who struggled, hitting a 3-pointer when it mattered most. It was Tracy McGrady, hawking Allan Houston all game and blocking Mark Jackson's shot on the Knicks' last chance.
McGrady missed 16 of 23 field-goal attempts, but he finished with 29 points, a game-high 11 rebounds and four assists. He was a major factor in Houston missing 13 of 19 shots, and he soared over Othella Harrington for a one-handed dunk that injected the Magic with energy.
“I think Tracy, defensively, all night was awesome,” Magic Coach Doc Rivers said. “We always talk about his dunks, we talk about his great offensive moves. I think he should get more credit for his defense than he does.”
Ewing first entered the game with five minutes, 40 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The fans stood and clapped for him for 30 seconds. Then, while Miller was shooting free throws, they chanted “Pat-rick Ewing!” over and over.
Ewing had five points and four rebounds in 15 minutes.
“I was a little tentative, maybe I was nervous,” Ewing said. “I was looking forward to having a big game, but that wasn't the case.”
Ewing led from the bench most of the second half. Early in the fourth quarter, Rivers pulled a struggling Miller from the game. Ewing made Miller sit next to him. For the next few minutes, he talked with the struggling forward. When Rivers called for Miller to return to the game, Ewing yelled, “Remember what I said, Mike.”
Several minutes later, Miller hit a 3-pointer to cut the Knicks' lead to 88-84. Then, Garrity hit a trey to make it 88-87 with one minute, six seconds left. After a jumper by Houston, McGrady drove on Sprewell, drew a foul, dunked and then made the free throw to tie the game. McGrady hit two free throws with 17 seconds left to give the Magic the lead. His defense on Jackson sealed the victory.
Asked if it was the best victory he has ever had, McGrady said, “Oh, no doubt.”
“If we believe, look at what we can come up with,” Armstrong said. “That's one of the best feelings I've ever had. I bet fans in Orlando are buzzing right now.”
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Knicks Dec 2001 Archive
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| Dec 31, 2001
Tracy McGrady scored 29 points and blocked an ill-advised shot by Charlie Ward with five seconds left as the Orlando Magic closed the game with an 18-2 run and beat the New York Knicks, 94-90, Sunday night.
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| Dec 31, 2001
Boo! Boo!
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| Dec 30, 2001
Don Chaney, Brian Winters and Mike Evans each have been given an unexpected opportunity this season.
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| Dec 30, 2001
Magic at Knicks
Who: Orlando Magic (14-17) vs.
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| Dec 30, 2001
The Orlando Magic had just suffered their worst loss of the season, and to make matters worse the team had a six-hour redeye flight to ponder a disastrous roadtrip in which it lost four times in five games.
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| Dec 30, 2001
Tonight:
New York Knicks, 7
WHERE: Madison Square Garden.
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| Dec 29, 2001
What? Did you think Patrick Ewing would shed some tears while reminiscing about his days as a New York Knick?
Think he was going to give the media a tour of his favorite Manhattan spots?
Imagine anything from him besides his continent-wide grin, a few niceties and some babble about another game in his 17-year career?
Come on, now.
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| Dec 29, 2001
Music was blaring in the Cavaliers locker room.
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| Dec 29, 2001
Thank goodness John Lucas' postgame comments didn't indicate last night's final result.
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| Dec 28, 2001
Fox Sports Net, WAKR-AM 1590
Knicks (13-15) Starters
No.
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| Dec 28, 2001
Tip-off: 7:30 tonight at Gund Arena.
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| Dec 28, 2001
Was Jeff Van Gundy's decision to resign as coach of the New York Knicks a reflection on anything that had happened with the teams? Maybe very little of it was, writes Marc Berman from the New York Post, who reports that the loss of close friend Farrell Lynch in the World Trade Center disaster did more, as much as 75%, towards his decision than anything else.
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| Dec 27, 2001
Rest easy New York fans, for the MRI performed on the fragile Marcus Camby yesterday revealed no further damage to his left foot.
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| Dec 26, 2001
It may have taken four years, but New York guard Latrell Sprewell has finally made peace with his former coach PJ Carlesimo, shaking his hand and wishing him a "Merry Christmas" before the Raptors game.
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| Dec 26, 2001
Surprise!
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| Dec 22, 2001
Maybe Marcus Camby didn't like his three point-blank misses in the last five seconds of Thursday's game against Memphis being showed across the league.
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| Dec 20, 2001
Marc Berman of the New York Post reports that if the Knicks don't make the play-offs, GM Scott Layden -- a Dave Checketts hire -- is probably toast.
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| Dec 19, 2001
Paul Silas has known Don Chaney since the two played against one another in the NBA in the 1960s and 1970s.
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| Dec 19, 2001
The Charlotte Hornets suffered yet another heart-breaking defeat in a home game Tuesday night, this time by a 100-95 margin to the New York Knicks.
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| Dec 19, 2001
CHARLOTTE
The Charlotte Hornets keep losing at home.
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| Dec 18, 2001
Larry Costello was one of those guys who coached in a T-shirt.
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| Dec 18, 2001
NEW YORK (11-13) AT
CHARLOTTE (11-12)
7 p.
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| Dec 18, 2001
In New York, Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy walked away from his job and $7million because he no longer had the focus he said his team deserves.
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| Dec 17, 2001
The New York Daily News' Mitch Lawrence wonders whether Madison Square Gardens CEO Jim Dolan is contemplating dumping team president Scott Layden.
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| Dec 16, 2001
The New York Post's Marc Berman confesses his love for Latrell Sprewell.
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| Dec 14, 2001
The last time we saw Don Chaney, he had the worst job in Detroit.
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| Dec 14, 2001
Don Chaney was just as stunned as everyone else when Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy resigned last week.
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| Dec 13, 2001
Marc Stein talks about Van Gundy's departure, how the East is still worse than the West, Lee Nailon and his contract with the Hornets, Dallas' problems at center, Dunleavy and the chance that he will become the next Knicks head coach, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
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| Dec 13, 2001
Latrell Sprewell has expressed concerns about the post-Van Gundy era.
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| Dec 13, 2001
The Knicks sold out for the season before the opening tip-off.
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| Dec 12, 2001
Glenn Rogers of the San Antonio Express News speculates that ex-Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy won't be long in returning to the NBA's coaching ranks.
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| Dec 11, 2001
Over the weekend, Van Gundy resigned after a disappointing 10-9 start this season.
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| Dec 10, 2001
Will he choke under Chaney's direction?
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| Dec 10, 2001
Don Chaney met with New York Knicks president Scott Layden on Sunday to work on details of an agreement that would keep Chaney coaching the team at least for the rest of the season, according to the Associated Press.
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| Dec 9, 2001
New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy unexpectedly resigned his position, citing family obligations and a lack of focus that he felt necessary to be successful.
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| Dec 9, 2001
To longtime Heat fans, the most lasting image from four consecutive playoff wars against the dreaded Knicks was one of wide-eyed, haggard-looking coach Jeff Van Gundy latching on to Alonzo Mourning's leg and holding on for dear life as he tried to break up a fight between Zo and Larry Johnson during a 1998 first-round game.
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| Dec 9, 2001
Neither Scott Layden nor James Dolan revealed who the next Knick coach would be.
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| Dec 9, 2001
Peter Vecsey took a step back from wild trade speculation this week to bring us some insight on Jeff Van Gundy's resignation.
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| Dec 9, 2001
As with any major news event, there's plenty of opinion from the New York Press.
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| Dec 9, 2001
There are only 29 of them, so unless someone is an NBA head coach or once held that job, it's hard to explain what the stress, the pressures and the demands of the position can do to a fellow.
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| Dec 9, 2001
There has been speculation that Jeff Van Gundy's next stop will be in Miami, with Pat Riley moving himself to the front office.
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| Dec 8, 2001
Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy resigns
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| Dec 7, 2001
When the Knicks got off to a 5-8 start, some within the team wondered why it was taking Marcus Camby so long to declare himself healthy.
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| Dec 7, 2001
He doesn't say much, accepts his role and doesn't mind waiting for his turn.
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| Dec 7, 2001
Jeff Van Gundy is not making a commitment to either Charlie Ward or Howard Eisley as Mark Jackson's backup.
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| Dec 7, 2001
If there was one Knick who must've been happy to see Marcus Camby return to the lineup, it was Latrell Sprewell.
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| Dec 7, 2001
It was accidental contact, no reason to get angry.
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| Dec 6, 2001
Milwaukee was a popular preseason choice to win the Eastern Conference, and the Bucks backed up that perception with a 9-1 start.
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| Dec 6, 2001
Latrell Sprewell's baskets combine both an element of flair and a degree of difficulty.
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| Dec 6, 2001
He's not Patrick Ewing, but Jeff Van Gundy still has a hard-working, scowling Georgetown center whom he loves.
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| Dec 6, 2001
Chris Broussard of the New York Times writes that Marcus Camby wants you to believe that he is just another Knick, that he ranks no higher than Othella Harrington or Charlie Ward on the significance chart.
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| Dec 5, 2001
To get this low, the Rockets had to hit rock bottom -- and keep on digging.
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| Dec 4, 2001
With his shooting eye back at least for the night, Rice loved the look he got -- a 3 from the corner -- until it rimmed out.
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| Dec 3, 2001
Jonathan Feigen does a piece on ex-Rocket Shandon Anderson for the Houston Chronicle.
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| Dec 2, 2001
Mention the name of Frederic Weis around Knick fans and most, to a man, will groan loudly.
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| Dec 2, 2001
It started Nov.
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| Dec 2, 2001
Latrell Sprewell grabbed the rebound of his errant 37-foot heave and slammed the ball off the court in disgust.
