Knicks 84-Bucks 80 12.02.99

Player of the Game:HOUSTON-25Pts,4-6 3Pts Best Scorer:Allan Houston-25 Best Rebounder:Thomas,Camby-11 Best Passer:Charlie Ward-7

MILWAUKEE-Latrell Sprewell enjoyed a victorious homecoming in front of friends and family as he and Allan Houston led the Knicks past.the Bucks 84-80 Thursday night. Houston had 25 points and Sprewell had 23. "It's always nice to come back here and play in front of friends and family," said Sprewell, who estimated he had 50 friends and relatives in the stands. "It was even nicer for us to get a win against a good team like Milwaukee and get back on track." He and Houston led the Knicks' scoring attack against the cold-shooting Bucks, who didn't look much like the team that led the league in scoring earlier this year. The Knicks also were buoyed by the return of Marcus Camby, who has missed a number of games with tendonitis in his left knee. Camby had 13 points and 11 rebounds in 27 minutes of play. "I felt surprisingly good out there," Camby said. "Hopefully, I'm getting better." "When a guy comes in and gives that kind of effort, it turns a game around," Sprewell said. "You can imagine what he can give us when he's completely healthy." New York's defensive pressure made the difference as the Bucks committed 15 turnovers and shot 32 percent from the field. Glenn Robinson missed the game with a calf bruise, and Tim Thomas was 4-of-14 from the floor as his replacement. Ray Allen led the Bucks with 25 points, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer. "You've got to give the Knicks some credit," said Sam Cassell, who had 16 points but just four assists. "They came in and took one. They took us out of the things we wanted to do." The injury-depleted Knicks (9-8) avoided falling below .500 and stayed in second place in the Atlantic Division. New York rebounded with a gritty defensive effort one game after an embarrassing 74-70 loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday. Milwaukee hadn't scored fewer than 94 points in a game this season until the last two, in which the Bucks had 79 and 77, respectively. The Bucks, who missed a chance to move into first place in the Central Division, lost for the third time in four home games after starting the season 4-0 at the Bradley Center. The Bucks went scoreless in a 3:49 stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters, and the Knicks made an 11-0 run to a 68-58 lead with 10:10 left. Milwaukee closed within 77-73 with three minutes left, but Dale Ellis missed two wide-open 3-pointers, and Houston and Sprewell hit shots to seal the win. Robinson, the Bucks' second-leading scorer and leading rebounder, didn't dress because of a bruised right calf. Robinson suffered the injury in practice on Monday and hadn't practiced all week.