Curry, Crawford Star in Loss at New Jersey

On a night when Eddy Curry proved he is fully healthy and was able to dominate down low, the Knicks struggled to make some key defensive stops and fell to the Nets 110-94 at the Izod Center.

Curry finished the night with a team-leading 23 points and four rebounds. Jamal Crawford chipped in 22 points and six assists, while Zach Randolph added eight points and nine boards.

Despite the loss, Nate Robinson was among several Knicks players who remained upbeat.

“It’s preseason, it’s early,” said Robinson, who played 19 minutes off the bench. “The Cavs went 2-5, and the Mavs went 2-4 (in preseason last year), and those are teams that did pretty well last year and were up there for the championship. We are learning together. We are learning where each other will be and this helps us get better. Of course you don’t like to lose, but it’s no big deal.”

Jared Jeffries agreed that a preseason loss was much easier to handle.

“I think the team played decent tonight,” said Jeffries. “Right now, it’s a feeling-out process. We are trying to get to know each other and how we can play together.”

Before the game, Knicks President, Basketball Operations and Head Coach Isiah Thomas decided to rest starting guard Stephon Marbury in order to evaluate different lineup options available to him this season. A drastically different starting lineup featured Quentin Richardson at the two-guard spot with Crawford manning the point and Jeffries at small forward.

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