Foul Trouble Dooms Knicks in Loss to Nets

The Knicks couldn’t overcome foul trouble to Danilo Gallinari and David Lee after a strong start and went on to drop a 113-93 decision to the New Jersey Nets at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.  

After exploding out the gate to a 16-point lead late in the first quarter, Danilo Gallinari and David Lee were forced to miss most of the second period with three fouls each and the Knicks fell apart. New Jersey fought its way back to take its first lead of the game with 4:50 left in the first half and never looked back.  

“For whatever reason we gave them hope,” Coach Mike D’Antoni said. “A certain point you have to score some. They got hot, they got confidence and they beat us.”  

David Lee led the Knicks with 23 points and six rebounds, while Wilson Chandler returned to the starting lineup to score 20 and pull in 10 boards for his third double-double of the season. Gallinari finished with 15 points. Lee and Gallinari had 11 apiece in the opening quarter  

“We got two guys in foul trouble, David Lee and Gallo, who were going really well at the time,” D’Antoni said. “That definitely hurt. And they started making threes and came back.”  

Devin Harris had 31 points and Courtney Lee added 25 for the Nets, who shot 14-for-24 from downtown.