Tickets available! Knicks' sellout streak ends at 433 games

NEW YORK — The Knicks are off to an 0-4 start, their worst in 15 years, and plenty of seats are available for anyone wishing to witness the ugliness.

Playing before the first non-sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden in nearly a decade, New York came back from a 16-point deficit only to fade down the stretch of a 97-88 loss last night to the Milwaukee Bucks.

The crowd was announced as 18,100 — more than 1,600 short of capacity — as New York's sellout streak ended at 433.

Milwaukee closed the game with a 17-8 run, the latest team to have their way with the Knicks in crunch time. In four games, they have been outscored 125-71 in the fourth quarter.

"At times I think we're starting to feel sorry for ourselves. There's not enough room, not enough time for that," Knicks guard Allan Houston said. "An energy, a pride, a passion has to kick in."

But about the only player who showed those emotions was Milwaukee point guard Sam Cassell, who scored seven straight points for the Bucks after the Knicks rallied to tie it at 80 with 5:28 left.

The Bucks went on a 7-0 run to regain control, and New York never got closer than three the rest of the way.

Booed off the court by those who stuck around for the final buzzer, the Knicks are winless after four games for the first time since 1987-88 — when they lost their first five.

It was the first non-sellout since Feb. 2, 1993, when 17,302 saw the Knicks beat the Washington Bullets. The streak began two nights later against Golden State and continued through Saturday night's home opener against Boston.

"It was a place where people came to see a team and supported them, and now it seems it's less crowded on this train," said Bucks forward Anthony Mason, a member of the Knicks in the mid-1990s.

Cassell, despite missing his first five shots and sitting out most of the third quarter with foul trouble, led Milwaukee with 22 points — half of them coming in the final 12 minutes.

Michael Redd added 19 and Ray Allen 17 as the Bucks won for the first time this season.

Houston, who scored 28, was left searching for answers.

"There has to be some electricity in the locker room. Something has to kick in where we have some emotion about us. Maybe I just need to come out screaming and surprise everybody," Houston said.

Milwaukee's largest lead was 60-44 early in the third before Cassell picked up two quick fouls. He sat out the rest of the quarter as the Knicks cut their deficit to 71-66 entering the fourth.