"The Knicks blew up last night because of their love of the 3-point shot. They blew a 17-point lead and the Nate Robinson controversy is on the verge of blowing up, too.

Coach Mike D'Antoni stuck to his guns and stubbornly didn't play Robinson for the seventh straight game, despite Larry Hughes' groin injury and the Knicks desperately needing an offensive jolt.

The night began with a glow as the Knicks built a 25-8 lead and it ended with the club dubiously setting a piece of history. The Knicks set the franchise's all-time record for 3-point attempts with 47 3-point bombs in a hideous 98-89 defeat last night to the Bulls for their second straight loss.

The Knicks' 47 treys fell two short of the NBA record, set in 1996 by Dallas. New York chukkers did set the NBA record for most 3-pointers in a first half with 29. At one point, they missed 15 straight 3-pointers.

"Some were good, some were just jacked up," D'Antoni said. "They went in early for us and that's how we got into taking them."

Robinson sat at his locker and stared for several minutes at the sickly boxscore sheet that had the Knicks shooting 36 percent and taking more 3-pointers than 2-pointers (47-39) -- the first time that's happened in an NBA game in three years. Worse for Robinson, the stat sheet showed D'Antoni basically used a six-man rotation, using Toney Douglas for just 4:15 as the lone guard off the bench."