Bucks Finally Break 100 Against Knicks

The New York Knicks’ record-setting defensive streak fell victim to the Milwaukee Bucks’ long-range shooting.

Sam Cassell had 22 points and the Bucks made a franchise-record 14 three-point shots Tuesday night to defeat the Knicks, 105-91, at Milwaukee and end New York’s NBA-record 33-game streak of holding its opponent under 100 points.

Glenn Robinson had 21 points and six assists and Lindsay Hunter and Ray Allen added 19 points apiece as the Bucks won their eighth consecutive game, their longest winning streak since the 1990-91 season.

Hunter’s five three-point baskets and four by Allen helped the Bucks end a seven-game losing streak against the Knicks and move past New York for the second-best record in the Eastern Conference behind the Philadelphia 76ers.

“We weren’t too concerned about that,” Hunter said of the Knicks’ 33-game defensive mastery. “We wanted them to notice that we weren’t a team they could dominate.”

There were no excuses coming from the New York locker room.

“We did not play defense like we’re capable of playing,” said Latrell Sprewell who had 21 points and six rebounds for New York.

The Knicks had held the opposition to 83.7 points a game, but the Bucks had 82 by the end of the third quarter.

Boston 83, Atlanta 82--Antoine Walker’s deflection with five seconds to play made up for his poor shooting as the Celtics held on at Boston.

Walker poked the ball from Jason Terry near midcourt and it went out of bounds off the Celtic forward with 2.1 seconds remaining. That was only enough time for the Hawks to inbound the ball to Terry, who missed a long desperation jumper at the buzzer.

Orlando 116, Toronto 111--Mike Miller scored a season-high 24 points and Andrew DeClercq made three of four free throws in the final 1:22 of the second overtime to lift the Magic at Orlando, Fla.

The game’s main subplot was the matchup between the Magic’s Tracy McGrady and Toronto’s Vince Carter, distant cousins and former teammates. It was McGrady’s first game against the Raptors since joining the Magic.

Carter had a game-high 33 points on 11-of-27 shooting in 55 minutes. He made 11 of 13 free throws and added seven assists and six rebounds. But he had eight turnovers and five fouls.

McGrady scored 22 points, making nine of 22 shots and four of 12 free throws. He had seven rebounds and seven assists.

Washington 97, Charlotte 95--Juwan Howard made a game-winning baseline turnaround jumper with 1.8 seconds to play at Washington.

Denver 105, Houston 100--Raef LaFrentz made a decisive three-point shot with 28 seconds to play and Nick Van Exel made nine free throws in the final four minutes for the Nuggets at Denver.

LaFrentz finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots s and Antonio McDyess added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who won their eighth consecutive home game to improve to 15-4 since Dec. 14.

Utah 100, Golden State 78--Donyell Marshall scored 17 points to lead the Jazz at Salt Lake City.

Despite playing less than half the game, Karl Malone and John Stockton added 15 points each as the Jazz won for the sixth time in seven games.

San Antonio 110, Vancouver 77--Tim Duncan had 23 points and nine rebounds at San Antonio to help the Spurs end a four-game losing streak.

Portland 104, Chicago 100--One night after they set a franchise low with 58 points in a loss at Cleveland, the Trail Blazers got five three-point baskets from Greg Anthony in the second half at Chicago.

Anthony finished with a season-high 20 points, 18 in the second half, as Portland won despite blowing a 16-point second-half lead.

Sacramento 130, New Jersey 104--Chris Webber had 25 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds as the Kings were at their hot-shooting best at Sacramento.

Sacramento, which shot 56% and went 14 for 28 on three-pointers, won for the fifth time in six games while posting the highest point total in the NBA this season.

Around the League

City council members in Charlotte, N.C., will not vote on funding a new arena until November, which the Charlotte Hornets say is too late and might force them to move. . . . Center Jim McIlvaine of the New Jersey Nets suffered a strained right calf and partially torn Achilles’ tendon during practice, putting him on the injured list for four to six weeks.