RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
NEW YORK (AP) -- Glen Rice was traded to the Knicks almost 10
weeks ago. His shot finally showed up Monday night.
|  | | New York's Larry Johnson collects an offensive foul driving on Vancouver's Othella Harrington. |
Rice moved into the starting lineup and rediscovered his
shooting touch, making five 3-pointers and scoring 23 points as the
New York Knicks defeated the Vancouver Grizzlies 97-72.
Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston also had big games as the
Knicks started adjusting to the loss of point guard Charlie Ward,
who will be out at least eight weeks after undergoing arthroscopic
knee surgery.
Coach Jeff Van Gundy opted to start a big backcourt alignment,
and the unit clicked all night. Houston scored 22 and Sprewell had
18.
"The way the three of us got into the offense, moving the ball
and creating shots for one another, that's just a small portion of
what can happen," said Rice, who had been shooting just 39 percent
from the field -- 28 percent from 3-point range -- for a Knicks team
that had failed to reach 90 points in seven of its previous eight
games.
"Once the three of us get it going, you won't see anything
close to 75 points for us," Rice said.
Rice had three of his 3-pointers in the third quarter when the
Knicks turned a six-point halftime lead into an 18-point bulge.
Houston shot 3-for-3 on 3-pointers, while Sprewell was 2-for-3.
Marcus Camby grabbed 14 rebounds.
Mike Bibby had 17 points to lead Vancouver, which made the last
stop on a four-game road trip.
The Grizzlies played lethargically and never put much pressure
on any of the Knicks' guards with suspect ballhandling skills.
Sprewell brought the ball upcourt unencumbered all night, and the
Grizzlies were often slow to recover from double-teaming the ball
in the low post.
"We picked spots where we wanted to trap them, but we didn't
want to open the game up too much," Vancouver coach Sidney Lowe
said. "We could have pressed in the backcourt, but that would have
worn Bibby out. We needed his offense."
Rice said his shooting stroke had "disappeared" as he came
off the bench in 11 of the Knicks' first 14 games. He regained it
in a hurry, making his first shot -- a 7-footer -- before giving the
Knicks their first double-digit lead, 32-21, on a 3-pointer early
in the second quarter.
Vancouver closed to 37-35 before Rice hit another 3, and his
third 3-pointer of the game made it 50-39 early in the third
quarter.
"They were double-teaming and just kept losing me, and I felt
like I had to made them pay tonight," Rice said.
Sprewell followed with a pair of 3-pointers -- the Knicks shot
10-for-16 from behind the arc as a team -- before Rice closed the
quarter with two more, making it 70-52 entering the fourth quarter.
Houston made two 3-pointers in the fourth before Van Gundy
emptied his bench for the final 3:21.
Game notes
Rick Brunson, a member of the Knicks the past two seasons,
was signed to replace Ward. Brunson, who was cut by Miami in the
preseason, played seven games for the Boston Celtics before being
waived last week. "I'm back home and it feels great," he said,
"like I never left." ... Shooting guard Kevin
Edwards fractured his thumb in Vancouver's victory at Boston on
Sunday. Damon Jones replaced him in the starting lineup. ... The
Knicks waived Jonathan Kerner, who had been on the injured list all
season. ... Luc Longley saw his first playing time of the season
and made his first shot, a garbage-time layup. .... New York
Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter attended the game with Miss Universe,
Lara Dutta.
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NBA Scoreboard
Vancouver Clubhouse
New York Clubhouse
Knicks' Ward has knee surgery, out 6-8 weeks
RECAPS
New York 97
Vancouver 72
Milwaukee 104
Orlando 95
LA Lakers 98
LA Clippers 83
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