Lakers lose Kobe to suspension, game to Knicks

Jan 31, 2007, 4:20 GMT

New York, NY - Eddy Curry poured in a game-high 27 points and pulled down nine rebounds as New York downed the Kobe Bryant-less Lakers, 99-94, at Madison Square Garden.

Bryant was suspended for one game without pay by the NBA for hitting San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili in the face in Sunday's 96-94 overtime loss.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Bryant requested an appeal hearing for his suspension, but his request was denied because it didn't comply with standard procedure. Should he eventually win the appeal, Bryant will get his money back that he missed for sitting out Tuesday.

Stephon Marbury scored 22 points with seven boards, and Jamal Crawford added 17 points for the Knicks, who have won two of three. Jared Jeffries donated 14 points and Channing Frye had 11 in the win.

Lamar Odom led the Lakers with 25 points, nine rebounds and six assists while Vladimir Radmanovic scored 18 points and also grabbed nine boards. Smush Parker contributed 14 points and Maurice Evans added 10 off the bench.

'We think about the fact that we should've made some plays down the stretch,' Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. 'We just didn't take care of the ball the right way. We had opportunities to stop them and we just didn't get the ball back.'

Los Angeles, which has lost a season-high three games in a row, finished 43.5 percent shooting from the floor in the first of an eight-game road trip.

Los Angeles closed within 85-84 late in the fourth after Odom's two free throws, and managed to cut it to 96-94 on Radmanovic's trey with 45.8 seconds remaining. However, Curry hit two key free throws 10 seconds later to ice the victory.

New York led by as many as nine in the first quarter following Curry's layup, but Evans nailed a jumper late to cut Los Angeles' deficit to 25-20.

The see-saw battle continued in the second and it was Jeffries' three-pointer with three seconds left that put the Knicks up 43-41 at halftime.

In the third, Odom hit a layup to tie the game at 57 with 5:13 left. Marbury then followed up with a trey for New York while Radmanovic dunked to make it a 60-59 game.

The Knicks ended the third with a 13-5 run -- capped by Marbury's three -- for a 73-64 advantage.

Game Notes

David Lee pulled down 13 rebounds for the Knicks.

New York's Quentin Richardson missed the game with a sprained right elbow.

Both teams shot 38.5 percent from three-point range.

New York improved to 12-13 at home this season.

New York shot 49.3 percent from the field in the game.

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