Knicks 117, Mavericks 115 (O.T.)

No wigs, surrogates or stand-ins (other than Qyntel Woods) ; these Knicks are not a hoax. There were huge moments from Antonio Davis (both on D and free throws) down the stretch, the continued improvement of Stephon Marbury and Jamal Crawford (both as shooters and distributing the ball), the twin towers of Eddie Curry and Channing Frye, formidable once again…and I’m really rubbing my eyes now. I’m pretty sure I actually saw Quentin Richardson playing guarding someone.

“Won’t somebody on the Dallas Mavericks get a rebound?” cried Bill Walton, who has now spent the past 24 hours trapped in ESPN’s studios. I’m sorry to say this, but it appears as though Bill was thrown out of the house and doesn’t want to tell anyone about it.

Dallas’ 7 game winning streak came to an end tonight ; the New York have extended theirs to 5 on the trot. While the Wilbon playoff prediction still seems fantastic, I can’t deny that the unbeaten-in-January Knicks aren’t merely competent, they’re downright impressive. That this turnaround is happening with the likes of Nate Robinson, Channing Frye and David Lee receiving serious playing time is in marked contrast to the way Larry Brown made Darko sit in the parking lot. Granted, that might’ve been a better seat than he deserved (and there’s a slight difference between sitting in favor of Ben Wallace, and say, Jerome James).