NEW ORLEANS — As the motto of this city goes: “Let the good times roll.”
The good times rolled on for the Knicks last night in the Big Easy with a 113-96 comeback smashing of the Hornets, scoring the game’s final 18 points to notch their first four-game winning streak since the 2005-06 season.
The Knicks (8-15), who trailed by 16 points in the second quarter, have won five of six games and notched their first four-game streak of the Mike D’Antoni era and first since January 2006, when Larry Brown was coach.
“It means we’re back in it,” said fourth-quarter hero Chris Duhon in a wonderful Louisiana homecoming. “We definitely put ourselves back into an opportunity to make the playoffs, which is our goal.”
In a flurry of clutch 3-point marksmanship, the Knicks hit five straight 3-pointers in a three-minute span of crunch time to pull away midway through the fourth quarter — three by Duhon and two by Al Harrington, who scored a team-high 28 points.
Duhon, who had 50 family and friends in the arena, had a spectacular finish, fully emerging from his slump with 22 points, making six of eight 3-pointers, and dishing out nine assists.
“Everyone hit big shots, one after another,” said D’Antoni, whose club shot 55 percent. “Chris just keeps getting better, playing with a little more confidence. He’s been due.”
Duhon pointed his finger upward after draining his fourth-quarter treys. The biggest make was the first of his three, as he swished a deep 28-footer from the left wing that put the Knicks in the lead for good at 98-96 with 4:43 left.
“They were pretty much going under the pick and I was able to knock it down,” Duhon said. “Once I make those shots it opens up everything.”
Earlier in the fourth, new backup point guard Larry Hughes connected with David Lee (17 points) on two straight pick-and-rolls that led to Lee layups.
Duhon’s resurgence in carrying out D’Antoni’s strategic overhaul of slowing down the speedball offense and Nate Robinson’s banishment has coincided with this heady period. Robinson received his fifth straight DNP as his removal from the rotation has made them grittier and more cerebral defensively.
Even Eddy Curry’s rusty return did not hurt matters much. Curry played just six minutes in the first half and did not look good after missing eight straight games.
Curry entered with 2:03 left in the first quarter with the club behind 22-19. By the quarter’s end, the Knicks trailed 30-21, with Curry ineffective, his stint capped by a needless foul on Chris Paul with .1 seconds left on the clock. Curry didn’t play the second half.
“I definitely understand it,” Curry said. “I’m a fan first.”
The Knicks’ 3-point marksmanship and tough defense down the stretch on Paul weathered some awful officiating against the Knicks in the fourth. Paul, often defended by 6-foot-11 Jared Jeffries, scored just 13 points (4-of-14) and had just three fourth-quarter points.
Wilson Chandler, who had a big game with 22 points, fouled out midway through the fourth on a ticky-tack foul while setting a pick. Moments earlier, Danilo Gallinari made a clean block that got whistled.
Harrington hit a running halfcourt banked shot at the halftime buzzer and that was a harbinger of good things to come.
The Knicks got off to a 11-0 hole just like last Friday in Atlanta. They trailed, 62-53, at intermission, as their defense took a step backward as the Hornets shot 55.6 percent. They failed to defend Peja Stojakovic at the perimeter (6-of-9, 3-of-6 on 3-pointers) in the first half. But it all changed as the Knicks showed their new resilience.
“We had to weather some Stojakovic bombs and we tightened our defense,” D’Antoni said.