NEW YORK (AP) ó Wilson Chandler scored 26 points, Danilo Gallinari added 21 and a huge blocked shot in the closing seconds, and the New York Knicks held on for a 98-94 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday night.
David Lee finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds for the Knicks, who won for the sixth time in eight games. They would have had another victory in that stretch, but they were outscored 15-2 over the last 2:33 of a 94-87 loss at Charlotte on Tuesday night.
Chandler and Gallinari wouldn’t let the Knicks blow this one, both hitting big 3-pointers in the final quarter. But Gallinari’s biggest play came on the other end, when he blocked Acie Law’s layup with about 3 seconds left and New York up by two.
Raymond Felton had 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Bobcats, already one of the NBA’s most punchless teams, who then finished this game without their top two scorers. Gerald Wallace was a late scratch because of a severe headache, and Stephen Jackson limped off midway through the third quarter with lower back spasms.
Tyson Chandler had 13 points and 14 rebounds for Charlotte, which has lost three in a row and five of six.
Boris Diaw’s basket trimmed the Knicks’ lead to 83-82 with 51/2 minutes remaining, but Gallinari nailed a 3-pointer with 5:05 to play. D.J. Augustin’s 3 again cut it to one, then Gallinari again hit from behind the arc to restore the four-point lead with 4:04 left.
A basket by Felton made it a two-point game with 31/2 to play before Chandler made a 3 from the corner. Al Harrington tipped in a miss on the next possession, extending the Knicks’ lead to a seemingly safe 94-87 with 1:31 left.
Charlotte scored five straight and again was within two on Felton’s 3-pointer with 22 seconds to go.
Gallinari failed to put it away by hitting only two of four free throws, but made up for it with his big block. Chandler then hit two from the line to close it out.
Jonathan Bender scored 11 points for the Knicks in his second game back in the NBA after being forced to stop playing the game during the 2005-06 season because of chronic right knee pain.
The teams combined to go just 13 of 40 in an ugly first quarter, and one of Charlotte’s makes came when Jackson banked in an alley-oop pass intended for Chandler.