---

By InsideHoops.com

In a thrilling game that came down to the wire, the New York Knicks beat the Sacramento Kings 114 to 111 in the best basketball arena on the planet, Madison Square Garden.

Allan Houston was unguardable. He finished with 39 points on 13-of-22 shooting. One more point and he'd have had his fifth 40+ game of his career. "Allan had the hot hand," said Knicks coach Don Chaney. "I thought he did a great job of taking shots when they were there, but also giving it up when he had to. He was also driving the ball when he had to."

Charlie Ward also stepped up big for New York, finishing with a 13-point 13-assist double-double.

Although Keith Van Horn continued to struggle with his shot, hitting just 6-of-19, he finished with 20 points and 13 big rebounds.

Dikembe Mutumbo got into the act, blocking four shots and making sure everyone knew about them, repeatedly unleashing his patented "No! No! No!" finger wave to the crowd. "Mutumbo did a spectacular job of protecting the basket and blocking shots," said Chaney about Dikembe. "He's got unbelievable character. He's a great defender and has the size. He also has the leadership. I thought tonight, he was just exceptional. He did it all."

For the Kings, Peja Stojakovic chalked up 36 points on 13-of-22 shooting. However, from an overall team vs. team standpoint, he wasn't happy with the referees tonight. "I don't want to go against the referee or anything, but I will just say that they made different calls in the second half, but still, it is our fault," Peja said after the game. "We have to go out there and no matter what is going on we have to respond and win games."

Brad Miller and Vlade Divac, who are both seven feet tall, made like point guards and finished with eight assists each. Miller also had three steals, while Divac snatched two.

Kings coach Rick Adelman wasn't giving all the credit to the Knicks. "They didn't do anything to stop us, we were our own worst enemies during that stretch. We scored 108, 109, 110 points, enough to win the game. We scored 60 the second half, and what can I say? They scored 71, and that was the game."

This was a shooter's night. New York shot 48.8% from the field and 44.4% (8-of-18) from three-point range, while Sacramento shot 51.7% from the field and 42.9% from outside the arc.

When playing in Madison Square Garden, the Knicks have now beaten the Kings seven straight times, going back to the 1996-97 season.

Since the Kings relocated to Sacrmaento for the 1985-86 season, the Knicks have a 17-1 Madison Square Garden record against them.

InsideHoops.com feels the reason New York keeps beating Sacramento in the garden is because there are so many absurdly gorgeous women within the first 10 or 15 rows of the court, the Kings players are probably distracted and totally unable to concentrate.

The Knicks are now 2-3 for the season. The Kings are now 3-2.