Crawford's Heroics Lifts Knicks 109-107

DENVER - Jamal Crawford stole the ball from Eduardo Najera and made a 3-pointer with 3.7 seconds left to give the New York Knicks a 109-107 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night.

Crawford, subbing for Steve Francis (ankle), scored 20 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, when the Knicks erased a 12-point deficit.

With the game tied at 106, Nuggets guard J.R. Smith stole the ball and passed it to Najera, who tried to throw the ball downcourt. Crawford blocked it, retrieved it and swished a long 3.

Carmelo Anthony, who scored 37 points, was fouled with 2.9 seconds left on the inbounds after a timeout and sank his first free throw. After another timeout, he intentionally missed his second attempt and Smith swooped in and grabbed the rebound, then fired up a bank shot that missed as the buzzer sounded.

The Nuggets have blown fourth-quarter leads against the Clippers, Timberwolves and now the Knicks in starting 0-3.

Marbury's 3-pointer tied it at 106 with 44 seconds left, erasing what remained of the Nuggets' 12-point lead with eight minutes left.

Earl Boykins was long on a 3-pointer and Smith got the board for Denver but turned it over out of bounds with 28 seconds left, setting up the sequence that ended with Crawford's 3.

While the Knicks were without Francis, the Nuggets played without Kenyon Martin, who was sent for an MRI on his swollen right knee during the game.

At the team's shootaround, Martin talked about how good his surgically repaired left knee felt and how he was getting back to full strength for the first time since undergoing microfracture surgery more than a year ago. He never mentioned any pain in his right knee.

The Nuggets, though, are accustomed to playing without Martin - he was limited to a career-low 56 games last season and was suspended in the playoffs for insubordination.

Martin, who averaged 9.5 points and 10 rebounds in Denver's first two games, was replaced by Najera, who scored 12 points.

Quentin Richardson scored 18 points for the Knicks before fouling out with 1:40 left when he charged into Najera with the Knicks trailing 104-101.

The Nuggets extended their eight-point halftime lead to 83-73 after three quarters and led 91-79 with eight minutes remaining.

Crawford scored eight straight points, on a free throw, a putback on a subsequent missed free throw, a layup and a 3-pointer, and Nate Robinson's breakaway basket pulled New York to 94-92 with six minutes left.

The Knicks trailed by 14 after seven minutes and pulled to 57-49 at the half.

Notes:@ Knicks coach Isiah Thomas declined to say how long he thought Francis might be out. ... Cablevision, which owns the Knicks through its Madison Square Garden unit, disclosed Larry Brown's $18.5 million settlement in its third-quarter report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Commissioner David Stern had forbidden the team from revealing the amount. ... The Nuggets have lost seven straight regular-season games.