Chants of “Ed-dy, Ed-dy” rained down at the Garden in the final minute. Eddy Curry wasn’t just racking up inside points with ferocity, he was blocking shots, playing rugged defense and grabbing key rebounds in a fourth-quarter frenzy.
Anyone doubting the Curry-Zach Randolph inside connection can now get out the eraser. This is working.
With a gritty, productive Curry-Randolph combo leading the charge and Renaldo Balkman a fireball off the bench, the Knicks staged multiple comebacks from double digits and posted a breathless 119-112 victory over the explosive Nuggets.
“That’s what Isiah [Thomas] had in mind when he brought Zach here,” Curry said. “I had a lot of fun, probably more fun I’ve had in a long time in a basketball arena.”
With the Garden swirling in deafening roars after they erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit, the Knicks moved to 2-1. If they beat Orlando on Friday, the Knicks will be two games over .500 for the first time since Jan. 1, 2005.
There was no Brawl II; just excellent basketball. Curry scored 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting with eight boards, and Randolph added 22 with 17 boards. Randolph became the first Knick to post three straight double-doubles to start a season since Patrick Ewing in 1992-93. The duo combined for 46 points on 20-of-31 shooting with 25 rebounds.
“They’re a load inside,” Thomas said. “They’re meat and potatoes.”
Denver coach George Karl said simply, “Curry is a pain.”
On the night’s signature play, Curry blocked ex-Knick Marcus Camby inside with 2:17 left, Randolph got the rebound and was fouled.
“It’s the first time I saw Isiah smile, so I got to do more of that,” Curry said.
In the final minute, Curry also kept alive a ball on the offensive end, tipping a rebound to Balkman, who was a spectacular energy boost, finishing off fastbreaks with power dunks. Balkman finished with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting with three blocks, four rebounds and great defense on Carmelo Anthony in the final quarter. The Nuggets, after tearing the Knick defense apart for three quarters, were held to 20 fourth-quarter points.
Curry scored on a three- point play with 56 seconds left that lifted the lead to 115-110 and heard the Gar den’s first “Ed-dy” chants as he went to the free-throw line.
“That was incredible,” Curry said. “This is the world’s greatest arena, and I think we got the best fans and they were really behind us and it was definitely one of the reasons we won.”
“This is great, nothing like Portland,” Randolph said of the crowd, then adding, “Eddy’s a great player. Nobody can stop Eddy. Every night should be like that.”
In the end, it was Allen Iverson’s blood on the Knicks’ court. Iverson finished with 32 but got cut inside the lip when he lost control of the ball on a drive, his mouth hitting into Stephon Marbury’s head.
The Knicks fell behind by 15 in the second quarter and rallied back. They fell behind 11 early in the third and rallied back, then they fell behind another 10 after three quarters after Denver staged a 10-0 run.
Did they have one comeback left in them? Shockingly they did. When Marbury (21 points, nine assists) found Randolph with a whip pass inside for a bunny and Curry scored inside, the game was tied 102-102 with 4:40 left.
Curry secured another offensive rebound and laid it home, was fouled and put the Knicks ahead 105-102. Though Curry missed the free throw, Randolph got the rebound and made one of two for a 106-102 lead with 21.2 second left.
The Knicks allowed 37 points in the first quarter, and the Nuggets led 50-35 with 7:43 left, drawing boos after a Eduardo Najera layup. Kenyon Martin, who didn’t dress, leapt off the bench screamed giddily, “Boobirds.”
Knicks 119 Nuggets 112