Nuggets, Knicks cap troubling day with victories

Tuesday, December 19th 2006, 10:31 am

By: News On 6

Hours after seven players were suspended for a fight that spilled into the stands at Madison Square Garden during the weekend, the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks both posted impressive wins at home.

The Knicks shocked the Utah Jazz 97-96 in overtime, and the Nuggets streaked out to an early 30-point lead before settling for a 117-108 win over the Washington Wizards.

``There's going to be something good that comes out of this nightmare,'' Nuggets coach George Karl said after the win.

Knicks coach Isiah Thomas, who avoided a fine despite warning the Nuggets' Carmelo Anthony not to go into the lane before the mayhem started, saw the adversity as an opportunity for the team to come together.

``I said to them that the same resistance and fight that you've had in your life, in your own daily journeys trying to get to the NBA, whenever you met that resistance in your life, you move through it,'' Thomas said.

``This is a time when you're meeting resistance and you've got to move through that resistance. You can't give into it.''

Anthony, the league's top scorer, received the biggest suspension, 15 games, for the fight near the end of Saturday night's game. The penalties were without pay, meaning it will cost him about $641,000 in salary.

Also suspended: New York's Nate Robinson and J.R. Smith of the Nuggets, 10 games; New York's Mardy Collins, six; teammate Jared Jeffries, four. The Knicks' Jerome James and the Nuggets' Nene each were penalized one game for leaving the bench area during the chaos.

In other games Monday night, it was: Miami 101, New Orleans 99; New Jersey 105, Golden State 97; Memphis 134, Seattle 126 in double overtime; and Dallas 109, Sacramento 91.

The Knicks seemed to have a commanding lead, 80-70 with 5 1/2 minutes remaining, before Utah's zone began giving them trouble. In the final 8 minutes of regulation, the Knicks made only two field goals.

Mehmet Okur hit a pair of 3-pointers in a 40-second span, trimming New York's lead to 82-80 with 2:23 remaining. Stephon Marbury made one free throw before Deron Williams banked in a runner to make it a 1-point game again. Jamal Crawford sank a pair from the line to make it 85-82, but Williams' 3-pointer with 10 seconds left tied it.

Crawford missed a potential winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Williams, who finished with 23 points, hit a jumper that gave the Jazz a 96-95 lead with 3 seconds left in overtime. But David Lee found Marbury streaking up the left side with his inbounds pass, and Marbury made a layup as time expired that was ruled good after a review by the officials.

``I was really happy for him,'' Thomas said of Marbury. ``He's from New York and he understands the city better than any of us, the ups and downs of it. And you know the toughness that he has of just grinding it out through the bad times, just grinding it out and fighting for Stephon Marbury.''

In Denver, Earl Boykins did his best Anthony impersonation in the final quarter after the Wizards trimmed a huge 2nd-quarter lead down to 93-91 with 5:36 left in the game.

Boykins scored 15 of his season-high 29 points in the 4th quarter.

``He gave us great energy off the bench,'' said Andre Miller, who scored 27 points.

Gilbert Arenas, who scored 23 points for the Wizards one night after scoring 60 against the Lakers, doesn't think the Nuggets lose that much with the suspension of Anthony.

``They play better without Carmelo because the ball moves and everybody goes,'' Arenas said. ``They played well without him. It's an emotional team right now. They will play hard. They are still a good team.''

Heat 101, Hornets 99

Dwyane Wade scored 29 points and hit a fadeaway shot with 1.3 seconds left, capping host Miami's furious rally from a double-digit deficit.

Wade, playing his second game after missing two contests last week following dental surgery, had 13 points in the 4th quarter.

Chris Paul scored 26 points for the Hornets, who scored only 2 points in the final 6 minutes.

Nets 105, Warriors 97

Jason Kidd recorded his 81st career triple-double and Nenad Krstic had 26 points for host New Jersey.

Kidd finished with 10 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds for his sixth triple-double this season and the Nets broke a two-game losing streak, winning for the fifth time in 16 games.

Baron Davis led the Warriors with 25 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds, but he only had 3 in the final quarter. Monta Ellis added 19 points and Mike Dunleavy had 18.

Grizzlies 134, SuperSonics 126, 2 OT

Rudy Gay scored 17 points, including 6 in the second overtime, and host Memphis snapped a six-game losing streak.

Mike Miller had 29 points, while Chucky Atkins finished with 28. Pau Gasol scored 15 points in 21 minutes.

Rashard Lewis scored 36 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for Seattle, losers of five straight. Luke Ridnour added 22 points, including 12 in overtime, and 10 assists.

Mavericks 109, Kings 91

Dirk Nowitzki had 29 points and 13 rebounds, Josh Howard scored 28 points and visiting Dallas won its fourth straight.

Jason Terry scored 22 points for the Mavericks, who have won 18 of 21 after starting the season 0-4. The defending Western Conference champions never trailed in their eighth win in 12 trips to Arco Arena, turning it into a blowout with a 16-4 rally in the 4th quarter.

Brad Miller scored 19 points and Kenny Thomas had 15 points and 15 rebounds for the Kings, who have lost eight of 10 to fall three games below .500.