McDyess leads Knicks over former team

McDyess scored a season-high 15 points Saturday night to lead the Knicks past the Denver Nuggets 95-88, snapping New York's six-game losing streak.

``Especially against the Nuggets it's a little sweeter,'' McDyess said. ``I wouldn't have thought so, but getting a win against them, it's real good. A win period is even greater.''

McDyess made his first start since March 2002, replacing Kurt Thomas (sore knee) on New York's front line.

Playing a season-high 31 minutes in his seventh game since coming back from a knee injury, McDyess scored seven points in the final four minutes. He also had five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Frank Williams ran the point for New York during the entire fourth quarter, finding McDyess on a backdoor cut for an alley-oop layup that gave New York an 89-83 lead with 1:01 left. The Nuggets got no closer than five the rest of the way.

``Frank has signs of being really ready to play,'' Knicks coach Don Chaney said. ``I just want consistency. I want him to play this way every single night with a high concentration and understanding of the game.''

Carmelo Anthony led Denver with 25 points, and Marcus Camby added 12 points and 12 rebounds in his first appearance at Madison Square Garden since the Knicks sent him to Denver as part of the five-player trade that brought McDyess to New York on draft night in 2002.

Keith Van Horn had 16 points, and Allan Houston, back after missing three games with a sore knee, added 15. Williams had eight points, seven assists and four rebounds -- six of the points and five of the assists coming in the fourth quarter.

``I'm in a groove right now,'' said Williams, who has been part of a rotating point guard trio along with Howard Eisley and Charlie Ward. ``We're kind of fighting back right now and everyone is trying to mingle and get our swagger back.''

Houston put the Knicks ahead for good on a 3-pointer with 8:31 left that completed a 10-0 run and made it 74-71.

The Nuggets stayed close until Houston hit a jumper, Andre Miller shot an airball and McDyess made a 6-footer from the corner for an 85-79 lead.

Denver had three shots on its next possession, but Dikembe Mutombo blocked two of them. By the time Anthony made a jumper with 2:24 left, the Nuggets had gone three minutes without scoring.

McDyess exchanged a hug after the final buzzer with Denver guard Voshon Lenard, one of only three members of the Nuggets who were on the team when McDyess was in Denver.

``It's been a huge turnover, there's only a couple of us left,'' Denver forward Ryan Bowen said. ``He looks good. He's still not the old Dice, but I don't know if he ever will be. He looked like he's having a lot of fun, and that's one thing I learned playing with him for three years -- he always had alot of fun playing.''

Notes:
McDyess' previous high was 14. ... New York Mets shortstop Kaz Matsui attended the game, sitting on celebrity row and getting a much larger ovation than the one Camby received in pregame introductions. ``If (Latrell Sprewell) was here it would have been more exciting, I would have been more into it,'' Camby said. ``You never know coming back, New York fans are so fickle. I wasn't expecting too much.'' ... Thomas has tendinitis and swelling in his left knee. He listed himself as day-to-day. ... New York's reserves outscored Denver's backups 32-11. ... The Knicks avoided their first seven-game losing streaksince Jan. 5-21, 2002.