Knicks 96-Celtics 88 01.04.00

Player of the Game:HOUSTON-37 Pts Best Scorer:Allan Houston-37 Best Rebounder:Patrick Ewing-12 Best Passer:LJ,Ward-5

NEW YORK-Allan Houston wants to make the All-Star team,and it showed Tuesday night. Houston scored a season-high 37 points, coming up one point shy of his career-high, to lead the New York Knicks to a 96-88 victory over the Boston Celtics. Currently third among Eastern Conference guards in fan balloting behind Allen Iverson and Eddie Jones, Houston will likely need to be selected as a reserve by the conference's coaches for the All-Star game Feb. 13. Houston, a six-year veteran and a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team, has never been selected for an All-Star game. "I can't lie and say I don't think about it from time to time," he said. "It would be a great thing, but I don't let it be at the forefront. I try to do what I can, and it feels good to have nights like this." Houston, who shot 12-for-18 from the field and 10-for-13 from the line, scored 14 in a fourth quarter in which the Knicks never trailed. Pointing to his missed free throws, Houston realized he missed a chance to eclipse the career-high he set against Atlanta in 1996 when he still played for Detroit. "It was a different feeling than that night because when I was in Detroit it was like all eyes were on me. But tonight a lot of guys were doing different things and it wasn't like just give the all to Allen and let him go. I got them different ways," he said. Latrell Sprewell added 16 points and Patrick Ewing and Larry Johnson had 14 apiece to help the Knicks made up for a poor night from their bench: a combined six points including just two from a foul-plagued Marcus Camby. Paul Pierce had 23 points and Kenny Anderson added 22 for the Celtics, who had their two-game winning streak snapped. Antoine Walker shot 6-for-22 before fouling out in the final minute and then getting a technical foul for arguing. He had 13 points. "We wanted to get a road win because that's what we feel we need to start doing to get to the playoffs," Walker said. It was the ninth win in the last 12 games for the Knicks, who have beaten the Celtics 15 consecutive times at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks hit 10 of their first 13 shots to take an early double-digit lead, but Boston steadily chipped away behind 19 first-half points from Pierce and 15 from Anderson to take a 50-49 halftime lead. It stayed tight throughout the third quarter, which ended with the Knicks holding a 72-71 lead after going ahead for good on a 16-foot jumper by Sprewell that made it 68-67 with 2:44 left in the quarter. Houston hit four of New York's first six shots of the fourth quarter, a run that ended with a 3-pointer that put the Knicks up 85-79 with 5:28 left. The Celtics pulled within two, 85-83, before Houston hit another 3-pointer to start a 7-0 run that clinched it. "It was a dagger," Boston coach Rick Pitino said of Houston's final 3-pointer. "We're going to win when our team gets wiser and more mature. Our next goal is to beat them at our place," Pitino said.