<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>All this winning at Madison Square Garden is beginning to feel a little monotonous. The Knicks followed their victory two nights earlier by beating the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night, 105-93. For those keeping count, that is two wins in two games. Well, so maybe the Knicks have not won all that much this season. But it has not felt that way recently. They have now won three of their past five games, after winning three games in all of December. The Knicks, playing without Stephon Marbury, also won consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 24 and 26. They beat the Detroit Pistons by 24 points on Sunday, their largest margin of victory this season. Jamal Crawford had a game-high 29 points to pace the Knicks, who had all of their starters score in double figures. When the Knicks sputtered in the third quarter, Crawford was at his best, scoring 11 points. He made consecutive 3-pointers at the start of the fourth to push the Knicks’ lead to 12 points. “Anytime you have 26 assists and 9 turnovers, you start to believe in your teammates,” Coach Isiah Thomas said. “I thought we’ve had honest play with honest effort, and I think our players now are starting to trust each other.” The Knicks (11-26) led for nearly the entire game. Their largest advantage was 22 points in the second quarter. But the lead was trimmed to 4 at the start of the fourth, keeping fans in their seats. The schedule makers should probably get an assist for these past two victories. The Wizards (20-17) were playing for the fourth time in five nights. They looked tired and fell behind almost immediately. The Knicks, perhaps energized by beating another tired team in Detroit, played crisply from the outset. “We’ll be on the other end of it,” David Lee said of the Knicks, whose game Tuesday was their first of four in five nights. “That’s the N.B.A., especially around January and February.” The Knicks were without Marbury for the 13th time this season. He has been out since Saturday with pain in his left ankle, and on Monday he was found to have inflammation around a bone spur. The Knicks are 2-0 in their latest stint without him. Marbury suggested that he already knew whether he would need surgery. “Right now I know what’s going on with my foot, so I know what needs to be done,” he said. Fred Jones replaced Marbury in the starting lineup and contributed 10 points. Zach Randolph had 14 points and 11 rebounds. It was not clear how long the Knicks would be without Marbury, who watched from the Knicks’ bench while wearing a protective boot on his left foot. The fans booed when he was briefly shown on the scoreboard during the third quarter. The Wizards, who have been without the All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas since he had knee surgery in November, had won five of their previous six games, including two wins over the Boston Celtics. They were also without the injured guard Antonio Daniels (sore knee). Caron Butler led Washington with 24 points, and Antawn Jamison added 21. When talking of the Knicks before the game, Wizards Coach Eddie Jordan said: “Their record is not indicative of what is out there on the floor. Now maybe they don’t play together so much. Maybe they don’t have a rhythm or maybe they don’t have a chemistry. But any given night, man, they can get it done.” It may have seemed as if Jordan was exaggerating, but then the Knicks came out and proved him right, racing to a 30-14 lead after one quarter. The Wizards missed 19 of their 27 shots in the quarter, while Quentin Richardson made his first five. The lead swelled to 22 points when Nate Robinson made a 3-pointer midway through the second quarter. The Wizards, though, closed the half with a 22-10 run, led by the 3-point shooting of Oleksiy Pecherov. The Knicks led at the break, 51-41. The Wizards cut the deficit to 6 points early in the third, but the Knicks responded with an 8-0 spurt. Washington kept charging, and the Knicks’ lead was down to 5 points after three quarters. But Crawford’s 3-pointers gave the Knicks all the breathing room they needed. And just like that, it is almost hard to recall the last time the Knicks lost. REBOUNDS For the record, the Knicks’ last loss came last Friday, against Toronto, 99-90. ... Highlights of the Giants’ playoff win at Dallas on Sunday were played just before and during the fourth quarter. They received the loudest cheers of the night. Several Giants were in attendance. Running back Brandon Jacobs and his son, Brayden, seated at courtside, received a standing ovation.</div> Source: NY Times
