Crawford leads with 32 as Knicks hand Jazz first loss


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NEW YORK -- Jamal Crawford scored 32 points, and the New York Knicks ended the Utah Jazz's undefeated start with a 107-99 victory Sunday.

Zach Randolph had 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Knicks (4-2), who moved two games over .500 for the first time since they were 16-14 on Jan. 1, 2005. Chris Duhon added 16 points, nine assists and five rebounds in a strong all-around game.

Carlos Boozer had 19 points and 17 rebounds for Utah (5-1), which was trying to start 6-0 for the first time since the lockout-delayed 1998-99 season. Already missing injured point guard Deron Williams, the Jazz stumbled offensively in the third after fellow U.S. Olympian Boozer went to the sideline with his fourth foul.

Andrei Kirilenko had 18 points and Mehmet Okur 17 for the Jazz, who were opening a five-game Eastern Conference road trip. They lost their fifth straight at Madison Square Garden.

Utah largely contained New York's uptempo offense in the first half, so the Knicks turned around the game by toughening up on the defensive end, diving for loose balls, leaping to contest shots and standing in to take charges.

The Knicks were down by five at halftime before surging into the lead with their best defensive quarter of the season. Trailing for most of the first 2 1/2 quarters, they closed with an 11-0 run, holding Utah scoreless over the final 4 1/2 minutes. The Jazz had two shot clock violations and committed a pair of offensive fouls in the period.

David Lee's free throws tied it at 69, then Randolph and Lee had buckets before Crawford nailed a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left to give the Knicks a 76-69 lead heading to the fourth.

The Knicks put it away with under 4 minutes to go, with Duhon sinking a jumper and feeding Randolph for a fast-break bucket that made it 98-86.

Crawford scored 20 in the first half, keeping the Knicks in it while his teammates struggled. He was 6-of-10; the rest of the Knicks were 9-of-34 (26 percent).

Ronnie Brewer was 5-of-6 and scored 12 points in the first quarter, leading Utah to a 29-26 lead. Crawford kept it close with 11 in the second, and the Jazz took a 54-49 advantage into halftime.

Game notes Knicks C Eddy Curry had a cortisone shot Friday to ease the pain in his sore right knee. He already had the knee drained to reduce the swelling after banging it twice in the preseason. Curry said tests revealed no structural damage, only a bone bruise, and doesn't know when he can return. "It's on the bone, so I guess it's going to take some time for it to heal," he said. "But it's not a knee thing, so I'm not really worried about it. I don't know much about bones and knees and all that anyway, but it's relieving to me to know that it's just on the bone." ... Utah has three five-game trips to the East this season.

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