The Knicks mounted a furious fourth-quarter comeback to beat the Bucks, 91-88, Friday night at Madison Square Garden.  

The Knicks dragged through three quarters before showing their first signs of life since being wiped out in Boston Thursday night, 104-59.

Jamal Crawford led the way and put the Knicks up in the closing seconds with a side-angle jumper that went off glass.  He apologized to Knicks fans for the Boston debacle during his post-game interview on the court.

Fred Jones also played a key role in the win, scoring all 10 of his points in the final period.  Jones did not see action until an injury to Stephon Marbury's shoulder forced him out of the game.  The comeback was initiated and completed with Marbury in the locker room.

Crawford and Zach Randolph each had 25 points to lead the Knicks.  Michael Redd had 27 points for the Bucks.

Bucks' forward Bobby Simmons missed Tuesday's game with Philadelphia for personal reasons.

The team said Simmons' absence wasn't serious but didn't elaborate.

The Milwaukee Bucks could be down two starters for tonight's home game against Philadelphia, due to ankle injuries suffered by point guard Mo Williams and small forward Desmond Mason on Saturday against Dallas.

Both players sat out practice on Monday, and their status was termed questionable by Bucks' Coach Larry Krystkowiak.

"I didn't think it was going to be too bad until after the game when I took my shoe off, and it had swelled up a little bit," Mason said of his injury, suffered in the first quarter of the Bucks' 97-95 victory over the Mavericks.

Ramon Sessions of the Tulsa 66ers, on assignment from the Milwaukee Bucks, today was named the D-League.com Performer of the Week for games played during the week of Nov. 19.  

Sessions, who was the first NBA player assigned to the D-League during the 2007-08 season, led Tulsa to a 2-0 start during the season-opening weekend.  Sessions notched team highs in points (27) rebounds (nine) and assists (four) en route to Tulsa?s 94-86 victory over the Fort Wayne Mad Ants on Friday, Nov. 23 and led Tulsa to a 117-109 win over the Sioux Falls Skyforce with 34 points, six rebounds, and six assists on Saturday, Nov. 24.  

Sessions is second in the league with 30.5 points per game and is among the lead leaders with 7.5 rebounds per game and 5.0 assists per game.  

The 56th overall selection in the 2007 NBA Draft, Sessions joins Amir Johnson of the Detroit Pistons and Jose Barea of the Dallas Mavericks as players on assignment from the NBA to win Performer of the Week during their time in the D-League.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was honored in a halftime ceremony by the Bucks tonight, as the team re-dedicated his No. 33 jersey and hung a new banner from the rafters.

The Hall of Famer and former Bucks' center thanked the Bradley Center crowd as the Bucks saluted his six years with the team, from 1969-'75, which included an NBA title in 1971 and a trip to the Western Conference finals in 1974. Abdul-Jabbar won three league MVP trophies while with the Bucks and three more with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Bucks' opponent on Wednesday.

"I've been here since Monday, and seeing old friends and teammates has been a wonderful experience for me," the 60-year-old Abdul-Jabbar said.

"When I first came to Milwaukee, I didn't know what to expect and I had no idea what the fans were all about."

Abdul-Jabbar said he still can recall a road playoff victory over Philadelphia and finding 200 to 300 fans at the airport when the Bucks returned home.

"Their support never faltered the whole time I played here," Abdul-Jabbar said.

Bucks' forward Michael Ruffin will miss up to six weeks with a fractured left wrist, the team announced Tuesday.

The Milwaukee Bucks and Houston Rockets game had a distinctly local flavor for NBA fans in China.

Among the estimated 100 to 200 million TV viewers in China were more than 400 who packed a Beijing bar at breakfast time Saturday to watch a live televised broadcast of Rockets' star Yao Ming against Bucks' rookie Yi Jianlian in the Chinese players' first NBA matchup.

"We're here for those two Chinese," said Wu Disong, a 27-year-old designer watching the game on a large TV at the Goose and Duck Pub. He and other fans ate an American-style breakfast while cheering on Yao and Yi at the NBA-sponsored event.

Millions of others watched at home. National broadcaster China Central Television carried it on its sports channel as did 13 other TV stations and three Web sites, according to the NBA's China subsidiary, NBA China.

Yao Ming thinks Yi Jianlian will be a better player than him some day.

For now, Yao still is the king of basketball in China.

Yao and Yi each had their share of highlights in the much-anticipated first matchup of the country's greatest player and its top rising star, and Yao's Rockets beat Yi's Bucks 104-88 on Friday night.

Yao Ming thinks Yi Jianlian will be a better player than him some day.

For now, Yao still is the king of basketball in China.

Yao and Yi each had their share of highlights in the much-anticipated first matchup of the country's greatest player and its top rising star, and Yao's Houston Rockets beat Yi's Milwaukee Bucks 104-88 on Friday night.

Yao, the five-time All-Star, had 28 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Yi, the 20-year-old rookie, had 19 points and nine rebounds.

"His talent is unbelievable," Yao said. "You ask me how good he can be? I can't say that. But I think he'll be better than me."

When asked why he thought Yi would surpass him in the future, Yao thought for a moment.

"I'm older," Yao said with a smile.

In China, Friday night's game between the Milwaukee Bucks and Houston Rockets is expected to draw TV ratings that would put even a Super Bowl to shame.

It's Yao Ming vs. Yi Jianlian, the nation's greatest player facing his highly touted rookie countryman for the first time.

"It's the two best basketball players in the country coming to play in the best basketball league in the world," said Wang Meng, a sports writer who covers the Rockets for Titan Sports, a Beijing-based newspaper. "It doesn't matter who wins. It's the best thing that can happen in China, because people will be excited either way."

The game, starting early Saturday morning in China, will air on 19 television stations, including CCTV-5, the country's government-run network. It also will be available on two Webcasts and on video-enabled, wireless phones.

The NBA also is throwing a viewing party for fans in Beijing.