Marbury's accuracy knocks down Miami

Stephon Marbury made the most of 12 shots.

Marbury scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and Jamal Crawford hurt the Miami Heat again with a deep 3-pointer in the closing seconds to lift the Knicks to a 99-93 victory Monday night in New York.

The Knicks, who lost at New Jersey on Sunday while trying to gain ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race, shook off the defending NBA champions during a tight final period.

"Our disposition and our mind-set was certainly different in the second half," said Marbury, who made seven of 12 shots. "We didn't want to allow the same things to happen as last night."

New York won for only the fourth time in the back half of 14 sets of consecutive games.

"We don't even want to think about losing two in a row," said forward Malik Rose, who returned from a benching Sunday and took up the slack inside against Shaquille O'Neal. "If we can get two or three wins and get a little momentum going again that will probably carry us, hopefully, to the playoffs."

The Knicks, swept by the Heat in three games last season, won this series 3-1. Marbury took over late when it appeared the Knicks might be headed to their first losing streak in a month.

Running the show without fellow point guard Steve Francis, Marbury made four of six shots in the fourth — including two 3s and four free throws midway through that helped the Knicks erase a six-point deficit.

His layup with 59 seconds remaining gave the Knicks a 94-92 lead, and they were never caught again.

"I just have to let the game come," he said. "At that point it was needed."

Eddy Curry, in his first matchup this season with O'Neal, scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Crawford had 20 points, including a 3 from the corner with 21 seconds left that gave the Knicks a 97-93 lead.

"Here's the deal," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "You're on the road 70-70 in the fourth quarter. If you're going to give up 30, you're probably going to have a hard time to win."

76ERS 89, KINGS 82: At Philadelphia, Samuel Dalembert scored 20 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, and Andre Iguodala had 22 points to lead Philadelphia over Sacramento. The Sixers used a 12-5 run late in the fourth to put away the Kings and snap a two-game losing streak.