--G Nate Robinson can be such a maddening player to watch and yet in an instant can suddenly get hot and be a prolific scorer. He showed both sides of his game against the Magic. As the clock was winding down on the first quarter and the Knicks were looking to build on a one-point lead, Robinson left his feet on a drive to the basket and had no bail-out option when he found himself stopped by Dwight Howard, so he tried to force a pass that was stolen by Howard. Jason Williams then charged down the court and nailed a three-pointer before the buzzer to give Orlando a 31-29 lead. Robinson had just two points after three quarters but then broke through for 22 in the fourth quarter -- two shy of the franchise record, held by Willis Reed (1967) and Allan Houston (2002) -- to provide the suddenly ice-cold Knicks with something to keep them in the game. Robinson could have tied or broken the record on the final possession of the game, but he elected to dribble out the clock.
During his hot streak, Robinson showed that grating side when he styled for the crowd after hitting a three-pointer. The only problem was the Knicks still trailed by 10 points at the time, hardly a reason to celebrate.
--Darko Milicic recorded his seventh-straight DNP-CD against the Magic and his ninth overall. The No. 2 overall pick from the 2003 draft, whom the Knicks acquired from Memphis last June for Quentin Richardson, said he was "not going to cry about" being buried at the end of Mike D'Antoni's bench.
Milicic has hardly given D'Antoni reason to play him early in the season. The Knicks had hoped to tap into his ability to run the floor, pass and block shots, but Milicic was often confused in the offense, was ineffective with his mid-range shot and, most of all, offered little to no interior presence on defense.
He also strangely spoke as if his fate was sealed and there was nothing he could do in practice could change his status at this point.
"The NBA is not like that," he told the New York Post. "That's what I learned in Detroit. You can be (expletive) Michael Jordan in practice, you're still not going to play in the game. They used to tell me in Detroit, show me in practice what I can do. I showed and showed, but then I didn't play. Practice is practice. The game is the game. Coach has his guys he wants to play, (the guys) he thinks is going to make this team a winning team."
The Serbian big man suggested he is ready to move back to Europe after this season, when his contract expires.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Because we were able to score at the other end, I didn't have to worry about it." -- Magic coach Stan Van Gundy on his team not being able to stop Knicks guard Nate Robinson in the fourth quarter.
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