Melee caps Knicks' letdown loss in Atlanta

ATLANTA - A frustrating night for the Knicks turned ugly in the fourth quarter when Shawne Williams and the Hawks' Marvin Williams turned a simple trip down the court into a pushing, shoving, and ultimately punch-throwing melee.

Williams and Williams (no relation) got into it with 43.7 seconds left in the Hawks' 111-102 win at Philips Arena on Friday night.

Marvin Williams gave Shawne Williams a shove in the back as the two ran upcourt after a possession. Shawne Williams responded by turning around and getting in Marvin Williams' face.

After another shove from Marvin Williams, both players cocked their fists and attempted to throw punches. Amar'e Stoudemire and other players got between them and no punches seemed to connect.

Marvin Williams immediately was rushed to the locker room by Hawks personnel as he continued to yell and point at Shawne Williams. After officials reviewed video of the incident, both players were ejected. Suspensions may follow.

When Stoudemire (27 points) got in the middle of the scrum, it was the second time he was in harm's way Friday night.

With about nine minutes to go in the third quarter, Stoudemire went down on the court after getting his right leg rolled from behind by a fallen Marvin Williams. Play continued around him, a pair of possessions with nine players running up and down the court.

The Knicks finally called a timeout and Stoudemire slowly got up. He showed a bit of a limp and more than a bit of a scowl but stayed in the game.

The Knicks were getting blown out when Stoudemire went down. They rallied in the fourth, but not far enough. It was a predictable happenstance after Thursday night's emotional win over the Heat.

That Stoudemire walked away from getting rolled over while going for a loose ball might be enough of a victory for the Knicks.

The Hawks took a double-digit lead early in the second quarter and led by as many as 24 in the third.

After Stoudemire went down and got up, the Knicks rallied with a 14-2 run late in the third; Stoudemire scored nine in a row at one point. But the Hawks still led by 15 at the end of the quarter and Stoudemire started the fourth on the bench.

Then the Knicks got as close as five with a little more than four minutes to go when Stoudemire stroked a jumper. But a three-pointer from Josh Smith restored the Hawks' mojo and the Knicks were not able to recover.

Raymond Felton had 21 points and 13 assists for the Knicks, who were without Wilson Chandler, day-to-day with a sore left calf. Shawne Williams started and had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Chandler's availability for Sunday's game against the Pistons is not known.

Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 34 points and Smith had 24.

Mike D'Antoni praised Williams' defense against LeBron James in the Knicks' 93-88 victory over the Heat Thursday night, calling it "pleasantly surprising."

More Bark than bite. D'Antoni on Charles Barkley's comments that his system can never win a title: "Up until we win one, he's right. Our thing is to make him be wrong. And it won't be the first time he's wrong. He's paid to make opinions and he's good at it."