"It doesn't get easier"

They face another critical road game Saturday in Miami, where they hope to avenge a frustrating loss to the Heat at the buzzer Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

"We're ready," Kurt Thomas said.

They weren't at the start of the second half Friday night, when the Knicks allowed the Hawks - playing without starters Al Harrington (back) and Josh Childress (flu) - to cut a 10-point halftime deficit to 81-78 at the end of the third quarter. A pair of free throws by Tom Gugliotta tied it at 86.

Coach Herb Williams said the Knicks' struggle to put away the depleted Hawks was not surprising. "I knew this was going to be a tough game in the beginning," he said, noting that the absence of two starters made the Hawks an unassuming opponent, especially with Shaquille O'Neal and the Heat awaiting the following night.

where is this from? is it from Newsday, because i may have read this... i was really scared in the Atlanta game. If we had lost that one i may have had to shoot myself.

Yah it is from newsday. I was also very nervous myself. It was 86-86 and then we went on a huge run. We better be able to come back in this game (Heat).

Man its impossible to make a comeback against Miami, especially in the fourth quarter, their just too fit, and good to give them a lead, you will never get it back

look back to the second game we played - where we had the 10 pt lead in the fourth and blew it. that gives me hope if we were to play them in the playoffs. we hung with them and took the lead but blew it.

Yah, I started a thread on this. We can stick the Heat but we have to play 48 Minutes against them, not 36.

yea exactly....anyone who saw the game - how did we stop shaq?

Well, we kind of did the ole "hak a shaq" and he missed a ton of FT's. We didn't exactly stop Shaq but we held him to a reasonable game. Malik Rose also played great D on him.

i hate how sometimes shaq can have his back completely to the basket and he can just flip up a shot and bank it in... he always makes those damn crazy shots, it really annoyes me sometimes