January 15th, 2011 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
The New York Knicks, returning from a somewhat successful 2-2 road trip, were most certainly glad to return to Madison Square Garden. The problem they had to face was they only had one day’s rest prior to their game Friday night against the Sacramento Kings.
As it would turn out, the one day of rest was insufficient against a young Kings squad at MSG. While neither team shot very well (Sacramento at 42 percent while New York checked in at an anemic 32 percent), it was some clutch defense along with 29 points from Beno Udrih, which allowed Sacramento to easily dismantle New York 93-83.
The Knicks were sluggish. How sluggish, you’re wondering? They managed to score just 15 points in the first quarter and would trail by as many as 15 in the first half. A late flurry did, however, allow New York to trail by just four at the break.
It would get even worse for the Knicks as they connected on just 5-for-21 while scraping up 16 points. Meanwhile, Udrih scored nine in the period – including a 3-pointer with just 37 seconds left in the third – to give Sacramento a 69-58 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Udrih would open the final period with a 3-point play to put the Kings up by 14; the Knicks would reduce their deficit to nine later in the quarter, but Carl Landry made a free throw before back-to-back treys by Udrih and Tyreke Evans sent the decidedly Knicks crowd home early.
The Kings’ high scorer was Udrih with a game-high 29 points, along with 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals while DeMarcus Cousins added 16 with 10 rebounds, a steal and 3 blocks. Landry came off the bench to chip in 15 with 9 rebounds and 3 assists but turning the ball over 7 times.
The Knicks were led by Amare Stoudemire with 25 points, along with 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 5 blocks while Toney Douglas chipped in 21 (including three 3-pointers) with 9 rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Sacramento (9-28) plays again on Saturday night when they travel to Detroit to take on the Pistons while New York (22-17) remains at home to host the Phoenix Suns.
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