Sonics rookies rock

Just 23 games into their pro careers, Kevin Durant and Jeff Green know what it’s like to be winners at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

The team that plays here regularly is starting to forget.

Durant scored 30 points, Green added 17, and the Seattle SuperSonics beat the slumping New York Knicks 117-110 Wednesday night.

Both rookies had played here before. Green was the Big East tournament MVP after leading Georgetown to last season’s championship, while Durant split a pair of games here in his one season at Texas.

“Just being here is special,” Green said. “Last time I was here, I won the Big East championship. Just coming back and playing here again is just a blessing. So I made the best of it and I had a good game.”

Former Knicks forward Kurt Thomas scored five clutch points in the final 2:31 as Seattle handed New York its fourth straight loss. Luke Ridnour and Wally Szczerbiak each scored 12 points to help the SuperSonics snap a five-game road skid.

“I was nervous coming here and playing in the Garden, but it was fun,” Durant said. “I think we played very well. It’s the Garden. Everyone says it’s the best arena in the world. Right before we went out, my heart was beating real fast.”

The Sonics bounced back impressively from a 123-96 loss in Chicago on Tuesday night. Coach P.J. Carlesimo said they got into their New York hotel around 4 a.m., but Seattle seemed to have plenty of energy, shooting a season-best 58 percent (47 of 81) from the field.

“We’ve done it three or four times this year,” Carlesimo said, “that we follow a real disappointing game and then the next night in a situation that doesn’t make sense we come back and do a good job.”

Jamal Crawford scored 29 points, and Zach Randolph added 27 points and 16 rebounds for the Knicks, who usually start slowly at home. This time their troubles came late: Seattle made 13 of 18 shots in the fourth quarter.

“Didn’t get it done,” Knicks forward David Lee said. “We were with them the whole game, we weren’t playing catch-up for once and they were able to make a few more plays at the end. The frustration’s just growing for us.”

New York played its second straight game without point guard Stephon Marbury, who is away from the team and could miss two more games this week following the death of his father. Another starter, Quentin Richardson, sat out the second half because of a strained tendon in his right knee.

Rockets 80, Pistons 77: At Houston, Tracy McGrady scored 29 points and Yao Ming added 21 points and 13 rebounds as the Rockets nearly entered the NBA record book for foul-shot futility before beating the Pistons. The Rockets missed 14 of their first 15 shots from the line, before finishing 6 for 22 (27 percent) to win for the third time in seven games.

Pacers 117, Bulls 102: At Indianapolis, Kareem Rush scored 22 points to lead Indiana over Chicago in a wild game that featured five technical fouls and two ejections.

Jamaal Tinsley added 18 points and eight assists for Indiana in his first home game since he was shot at, but unhurt, early Sunday morning in downtown Indianapolis.

Indiana coach Jim O’Brien was called for a technical foul with the Pacers trailing 38-24. Indiana responded with an 11-1 run. The Bulls were leading 41-36 with 3:51 left in the second quarter when Chicago forward Tyrus Thomas took exception to a hard foul by Indiana center Troy Murphy and responded by shoving him in the face. Murphy swung back, and players from both teams intervened before things escalated.

Celtics 90, Kings 78: At Boston, rookie Glen Davis made his first start since taking his power game to the NBA from LSU and kept the Celtics unbeaten at home with a win over Sacramento.

The young-looking, 289-pound center had 16 points and nine rebounds, and made all 10 of his free throws as Boston improved to an NBA-best 18-2.

76ers 98, Timberwolves 94: At Philadelphia, Samuel Dalembert had 18 points, 11 rebounds and tied a career high with nine blocked shots and Andre Iguodala scored 25 points in a win over Minnesota.

Bucks 100, Magic 86: At Milwaukee, Michael Redd had 27 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to help Milwaukee defeat Orlando and snap a four-game losing streak.

Raptors 92, Mavericks 76: At Toronto, Kris Humphries had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Chris Bosh scored 17 points to help Toronto beat Dallas for the first time in more than four years.

Nuggets 105, Hornets 99: At Denver, Carmelo Anthony had 32 points, including a three-point play with 38.4 seconds left, to defeat New Orleans.

Bobcats 108, Clippers 103: At Charlotte, N.C., Raymond Felton scored 26 points and keyed a fourth-quarter surge to defeat Los Angeles.

Trail Blazers 105, Warriors 95: At Portland, Travis Outlaw scored 22 points and had eight rebounds to help the Trail Blazers past Golden State for their fifth straight victory.

Suns 103, Jazz 98: At Phoenix, playing half the game with a chipped front tooth, Steve Nash had 29 points and 11 assists as Phoenix snapped a two-game losing skid.