Knicks Give Thomas an Emotional Victory

Isiah Thomas’ old team ran into his new one, and the team he now runs outplayed the one he formerly coached.

Two of Thomas’ acquisitions, Penny Hardaway and Stephon Marbury, made several big plays down the stretch Tuesday night to help the Knicks end the Indiana Pacers’ three-game winning streak with a 97-90 victory at New York.

“It’s not about me, it’s about the players, and they played well tonight,” Thomas said of one of the Knicks’ better performances during his six-week tenure as team president. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for the Pacers, they’re a great team.

“It’s a long, long way to go, and our players were great tonight.”

Hardaway had 14 points, including a clinching jumper with 17.2 seconds remaining, and Marbury had 23 points and eight assists.

Ron Artest had 19 points for the Pacers, who were coached by Thomas the last three seasons. Thomas was fired in August by new team President Larry Bird, and this was his former team’s first time playing in his presence.

“There wasn’t any talk, but I think we all had it in the back of our minds that this game was extremely important for him -- especially with the circumstances that went down in Indiana,” said Keith Van Horn, who had 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Indiana, however, was taken aback by the Knicks’ celebration afterward.

“We’re going to remember those guys acting like they won the championship,” Jermaine O’Neal said. “Hopefully guys on our team have long memories.”

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Cleveland 85, Detroit 82 -- Carlos Boozer helped make up for LeBron James’ poor shooting with 21 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Cavaliers at Auburn Hills, Mich.

James, coming off a career-high 38 points on Sunday, had 12 points on five-for-19 shooting. Boozer made two free throws with 8.9 seconds left, after grabbing an offensive rebound off a James shot, to give Cleveland the lead for good.

Chauncey Billups, who missed a three-pointer just before the buzzer, had 19 points for Detroit.

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Minnesota 113, Orlando 100 -- Kevin Garnett had 30 points and 14 rebounds, and Sam Cassell added 20 points and 10 assists to lead the Timberwolves at Minneapolis.

Latrell Sprewell added 25 points and seven assists for Minnesota, which won for the 13th time in 15 games -- and 13th in a row at home.

Tracy McGrady scored 34 points for the Magic but made only 12 of 31 shots.

Sacramento 117, Seattle 101 -- Brad Miller scored 14 of his 25 points in the pivotal third quarter at Sacramento to lead the Kings to their fourth consecutive victory.

Trailing 61-56 at halftime, Sacramento outscored Seattle, 33-20, in the third quarter.

Peja Stojakovic led the Kings with 26 points. Rashard Lewis led Seattle with 25 points.

Dallas 107, Golden State 93 -- Michael Finley scored 23 points at Dallas, helping the Mavericks end a two-game losing streak and extending their winning streak against the Warriors to 20 games. Speedy Claxton and Jason Richardson had 20 points apiece for the Warriors, who last beat the Mavericks on April 10, 1999.

Toronto 90, Philadelphia 83 -- Vince Carter had 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter at Philadelphia to help the Raptors end a two-game losing streak. Allen Iverson had 36 points to lead the 76ers, who have lost nine of their last 11.

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New Jersey Net forward Eddie Griffin must remain in jail at least until his Feb. 13 sentencing on a marijuana possession conviction, a judge said in Houston. Griffin was arrested Monday for allegedly violating a curfew set as a condition of his bond in an unrelated aggravated assault charge.