he Knicks' losing has gone from epic proportions to historic. Instead of the hoped-for turnaround under Larry Brown, they have plummeted to 14-36 after losing 15 of their past 16 games, a first in the history of the franchise.

The Knicks lost to Houston, 90-83, last night at Toyota Center for their ninth straight defeat, and that was on a night when they held Rockets All-Star Tracy McGrady to seven points and 3-for-20 shooting.

"I want to go in a hole," Brown muttered as he came out of the locker room for his postgame news conference.