Just in the Knick of time, Keith Van Horn showed he could take over a game down the stretch. Pardon that pun, but it couldn’t be any worse than Van Horn’s two-point game a week ago.
After sitting during the fourth quarter twice last weekend, Van Horn came out like a man possessed in the final quarter of the Knicks’ 103-92 victory over Atlanta last night at the Garden. He scored 11 straight points during his club’s game-sealing 13-2 run, hitting three 3-pointers in a row.
It couldn’t have been any timelier, because fan favorite Latrell Sprewell – the man traded for Van Horn – arrives at the Garden with Minnesota on Tuesday night.
“I’ve never seen him that assertive and wanting the ball,” Knicks coach Don Chaney, who can thank Van Horn for his job security this morning. “He wanted the ball and he delivered.”
Van Horn scored 20 points with excellent marksmanship, going 7-of-9 from the floor. A combination of pathetic defense by the lackadaisical Stephen Jackson and Van Horn’s thirst for the ball conspired to send the Garden crowd of 18,036 into a full-bore chant of “Keith! Keith!”
“I always feel confident taking big shots and playing in the fourth quarter,” Van Horn said. “I always want to be in that situation.
“If you want to be on the bench, you probably shouldn’t be playing in the NBA.”
With about 5½ minutes remaining, the Knicks were clinging to a six-point lead. Good passing resulted in a wide-open, weak-side look by Van Horn in the left corner, and he drained his first trey of the night.
Less than a minute later in transition, he was wide open on the right side. He buried another long-distance jumper. The next time down, another 3-pointer went down in transition at the top of the key.
“Our defensive intensity led to a lot of open looks for me,” he said.
When he drained his fourth consecutive shot at the top of the key, his foot was just on the 3-point line.
“It was nice. Very fun to watch,” said Allan Houston, who matched Van Horn with team-high scoring honors. “It’s great for him.”
Van Horn added five rebounds to boot, and his strong finish erased a lackluster first half.
“He was hungry, and I liked that,” Chaney said. “I liked that on both sides of the floor.”