The Los Angeles Lakers broke their eight-game losing streak when Kobe Bryant scored 20 of his 32 points in the second half to beat the road-weary New York Knicks 117-107 Tuesday night.

Stephon Marbury's 45 points were 10 points short for the Knicks who also lost on Monday at Oakland.

Caron Butler added 26 points for Los Angeles. Devean George, playing just his third game of the season, had 18 points and Chucky Atkins scored 12 for the Lakers.

According to sources, Portland point guard Damon Stoudamire who is to be a free agent this summer will strongly consider being a New York Knick.  With Stoudamire, the Knicks would be closer to the scrappy guard/shooting oriented lineup that has been so successful with the Phoenix Suns and Seattle Supersonics.  A lineup Isiah Thomas has hinted at mimicking.

"If that happens, it would be great," Stoudamire said late Saturday night. "I definitely think the beauty of playing that way is that you have three guards that can pass, dribble and shoot. Isiah is molding the team the way he did in Toronto and like the team he played for in Detroit. Isiah, Joe Dumars and Vinnie Johnson all complemented each other."

The Knicks battled the SuperSonics tough, as Seattle needed an overtime session to get a 109-101 victory.  Ray Allen scored a game-high 40 points.

``I was glad that he played tonight and to be able to stick it out like he did was great,'' said Allen, a five-time All-Star whose career high is 47 points.

``I know once you start playing and the adrenaline starts pumping, it's just getting it started. But sometimes it's tough getting it started.''

In his second game after missing one against Milwaukee at home Tuesday night because of a sprained right ankle, Allen played 47 minutes, one more than Lewis.

``I'm feeling a lot better,'' he said. ``It's the same thing with me. You've just got to get it started. You walk in here and you feel locked up, but once you get started, there's no quitting.''

Now that Antoine Walker is back in Boston, the Knicks' pursuit of the forward will likely be unsuccessful.  Isiah Thomas would have been a frontrunner to land the forward had he stayed through the end of the season in Atlanta.

Walker now appears very likely to resign with the Celtics, as they have become one of the hottest teams in the NBA since he has returned.  The Celtics can also pay Walker more than any other team.

Former Knicks president Scott Layden also tried on several occasions to acquire Walker when Walker was first with Boston. In the days after the Knicks drafted Michael Sweetney, Boston turned down the Knicks' offer of Latrell Sprewell and Sweetney for Walker.

The Celtics have won 11 our of the 13 games that Walker has appeared in this season.

Walker is averaging 20 points and 9.3 rebounds per game this season.

Coming into the game winners of 11 of their 12 games, Doc Rivers wasn't suprised to his Celtics slip up versus the Knicks, losing 107-82.

``We were our own worst opponent tonight. We were horrible,'' Rivers said. ``I think it's a good lesson for us, and it's only one loss.''

Antoine Walker shot just 5-for-20, Paul Pierce was 2-for-5 and Ricky Davis shot 2-for-10 as the Celtics shot only 38 percent, had their seven-game winning streak snapped and were held to a season-low point total.

Jamal Crawford led New York with 21 points, two of them coming when he passed the ball to himself off the backboard, caught it and dunked. Trevor Ariza added 14 points, and Thomas and Maurice Taylor had 13 apiece.

``They're just a bunch of frontrunners right now,'' the Knicks' Tim Thomas said. ``Nobody is going to come in here and push us around.''

The Duncan-less Spurs, and Kurt Thomas-less Knicks (arguably among both team?s best defender/rebounder), was not the '99 Finals rematch many continually hope for, the post Nazr-Rose Trade meeting, the...well, you get the point. But, it wasn't the Spurs who were the defensive powerhouse tonight; it was the Knicks. Granted without Duncan the Spurs are a different team, but without Kurt Thomas the Knicks lose their best Pick-n-Roll player, and rebounder.

The Knicks battled the Spurs closely for the 1st half, coming back from a lead as big as 9 with a defense & effort of Matador& Swiss-Cheese Class. But, the 2nd half was a different story as the Knicks turned up the Defensive intensity. For 11 Minutes and 23 Seconds (spanning the 3rd and 4th Quarters), the Knicks held the Spurs from netting any FG's, as they went on a 25-1 run to take their largest lead of 18. The Spurs would score just 28 Points in the 2nd half.

Before the drought, the Spurs were leading 59-53 and seemed poised to pull away. The Knicks however never gave up, and kept the Spurs lead to only 6, as Marbury was about to go on an offensive-explosion. In that same 11 minute span, Marbury scored 13 straight points, going to the line again and again (11 of 12 overall), dropping 31 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and only 1 turnover for the game.

Speaking of turnovers, the Knicks forced the Spurs into 9 of them during that stretch (17 for the game), and capped it off by making them take 12 bad shots. The Spurs lived, and died from the arc tonight as they went 5-22 for the game. Malik Rose was running on high emotions in this game for both his old, and new teams. While he had a terrible shooting night, he did provide lockdown defense for the Knicks, and managed to score 18 points (1 shy of his season & Spurs high of 19), and grab 7 boards.

How did the other half of this trade fair? Well, Nazr had 7 points & 7 rebounds, but was a non-factor. Speaking of non-factors, Tony Parker was spectacular in the 1st quarter, as he scored 10 points on a perfect 5 of 5 shooting breaking-down the Knicks & Marbury's defense time after time. But, the problem there is that's the last you heard from him...as he wouldn't be a factor for the rest of the game finishing with 14 Points on 6-15 shooting, 6 Assists, 5 Fouls, and 3 Turnovers. Ginobili wasn't a factor for not just a half, but the entire game, as his sore body was only capable of producing 6 Points tonight. Rasho was surprisingly brilliant tonight against a very small Knicks lineup, scoring 8 points on 50% shooting, hauling down 11 rebounds, and swatting 3 shots away.

Besides Rasho, the other bright spots tonight were the play of both Teams? young-Wing players. Devin Brown & Trevor Ariza both had terrific game. Brown had his way in the Paint, and beyond the Arc as he scored at will (though he would eventually cool down with the rest of the Spurs), he would finish with 22 points & 8 rebounds in 27 minutes. Ariza played excellent defense all night long, as he quietly scored 7 points, and hauled down 11 rebounds in 29 minutes.

Overall, the Knicks turned in their finest defensive effort of the season (even better than the ones in Orlando, and at home against the T'Wolves earlier in the Season). Since the 2 deadline trades that GM Isiah Thomas has made, the Knicks have been a different team, with renewed heart, and defensive presence...where at times one might feel they're back in the Ewing-Era, or dare I say the 70's HOF era? Well, they're maybe not 100% there yet, but as a reward for last night's effort? It moved them to within 3 1/2 a games of Philadelphia and the 8th and final seed of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

With Tim Duncan out of the Spurs' line-up, the Knicks cruised to a 88-75 victory.

The Knicks defense held the Spurs to just 28 second half points, 13 in the 3rd and 15 in the 4th.

Former Spurs' forward Malik Rose scored 18 points and 7 rebounds in his first game against his former team.

``In the beginning it was kind of nerve-racking. All day I was sitting around, couldn't really get a good nap or anything like that. I just wanted to get it over with,'' Rose said.

``He was really coaching the Knicks,'' Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. ``Every time we called a play, he was telling everybody what to do. He played a very good game.''

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Isiah Thomas announced today that center Jackie Butler has been activated and guard/forward Anfernee Hardaway has been placed on the Injured List with a strained right hamstring.

Butler, 6-10, 250-pounds, was signed as a free agent on Feb. 27 and placed on the Injured List on Feb. 28 with right patella tendinitis.

Hardaway, 6-7, 215-pounds, was averaging 7.3 points and 2.4 rebounds and 24.2 minutes in 37 bench appearances this season. The 11-year NBA veteran has already missed 24 games this season due to a strained right hamstring.

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Isiah Thomas announced today that guard Jermaine Jackson has been signed for the remainder of the season.

Jackson, 6-4, 200-pounds, is averaging 1.8 points, 1.3 rebounds and 7.0 minutes in four bench appearances this season with the Knicks. The three-year NBA veteran was originally signed to the first of two consecutive 10-day contracts on Feb. 28.

The active roster remains at 12, with two on the Injured List.

The Atlanta Hawks will be without two starters tonight -- Al Harrington (low back soreness) and Josh Childress (flu).  Their replacements in the starting lineup have yet to be announced.

The Hawks will entertain the New York Knicks at 7:30 est. tonight.