Former All-Star Vin Baker signed with the New York Knicks for the rest of the season on Friday, a day after winning his arbitration case against the NBA.
He was added to the active roster immediately, and coach Lenny Wilkens said Baker would play against Philadelphia.
"I'm taking this opportunity as my last chance to come out and not only play basketball, but as a person, I don't want to make the same mistakes," the 32-year-old Baker said. "I'm going to try my hardest from day to day not to make the same mistakes that I've made in the past."
Baker has been a four-time All-Star, but his career took a troubling turn during his battle with alcoholism that led to his release by Boston.
Baker was shooting more than 50 percent for the Celtics before he was suspended -- and subsequently had his contract terminated -- for violating terms of his alcohol treatment program.
Baker said he didn't believe counselors when they told him relapse would be part of recovery, and he ignored his aftercare program. Baker put basketball ahead of his alcohol counseling, which led to a relapse that he said "snuck up on me."
Baker said he wouldn't make that mistake again and was now following his program.
"This is a disease and I have to take it one day at a time," Baker said. "In the last three or four weeks, I've been able to put that back first in my life."
Knicks president Isiah Thomas was not concerned about Baker's previous troubles and said testing and counseling would be handled by the team.
"He's coming to a situation where there are people in management that are very sensitive to the situation and have a very unique understanding of the situation," said Thomas, whose brother, Ronnie, died from the effects alcoholism. "You have to learn from your failures. I think Vin is old enough and mature enough to accept some of those failures and deal with them a little better than he dealt with them in the past."
Baker was a free agent after winning his case against the league. No details about Baker's contract were announced.
Wilkens was happy to have him.
"He understands the post position and he has size," he said. "He doesn't have to carry the load, that's in his favor, and he gives us flexibility."
In Baker's grievance against the NBA, argued Monday, arbitrator Roger Kaplan invalidated a league memo barring all 29 teams from signing Baker until his grievance against the Celtics is settled.
Kaplan set an initial hearing date of April 12 for that case.
Baker averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds over his last two seasons in Milwaukee before he was traded to Seattle for the 1997-1998 season. He spent five years in Seattle, averaging 14.1 points in his final year.
The Celtics signed Baker before the 2002-2003 season, but he averaged just 5.2 points before he was suspended on Feb. 27, 2003, amid reports of a drinking problem. Baker later said he was an alcoholic who began binge drinking during the 1998-1999 lockout.
After treatment, he returned in better shape and determined to make it up to his teammates. He scored in double figures in 21 of his first 35 games, but then his production dropped off again.
The Knicks also activated guard Moochie Norris, and placed guard Frank Williams and Cezary Trybanski on the injured list. Norris missed five games with Achilles' tendinitis.
Hawks 138, Wizards 124
Stephen Jackson scored a career-high 42 points and five Atlanta players scored at least 20 in a 138-124 win over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.
The last team to have five players score 20 points or more in a game was Orlando, which did it on Jan. 26, 1993. Atlanta last did it in 1968 at Seattle.
"We're pretty far down in the standings and not a lot of people really want to watch us," said Jackson, who had 31 points in the second half.
Bob Sura scored 28, along with 10 assists and nine rebounds, while Jason Terry had 23 points, Jason Collier 22 (also a career high) and Chris Crawford 20.
"We just didn't have a clue what they were doing," said Washington's Jerry Stackhouse. "You don't expect that from a team with that record. They probably didn't have a whole lot of fear of us, either."
The game had eight 20-point scorers; Gilbert Arenas led Washington with 30, while tackhouse had 29 and Juan Dixon 23.
Pacers 99, Celtics 81
In Boston, Reggie Miller scored 18 points and Al Harrington added 16 to lead Indiana past Boston for its seventh straight win.
Paul Pierce had 21 points for Boston, reaching 10,000 points faster than anyone in Celtics history -- in his 431st game. Larry Bird reached the plateau in his 436th game.
Indiana started to take control with a 10-1 run over the final 3 1/2 minutes of the first half for a 48-39 lead. The Pacers opened the second half by scoring 13 of the first 16 points to build their lead to 61-42. It was 72-50 on Harrington's basket in the final minute of the quarter.
Nets 88, Bulls 76
In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Jason Kidd had his 59th career triple-double to tie Larry Bird for fourth-most in NBA history as New Jersey beat Chicago.
Kidd finished with 13 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds as the Nets won consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 24 -- the final victory in their 14-game winning streak that ended the next night in Minnesota.
Richard Jefferson added 27 points as the Nets had to play the second half without All-Star power forward Kenyon Martin, who sprained his left ankle in the first quarter.
Jamal Crawford scored 24 of his 25 points in the second half to help turn a laugher into a game that had Nets' fans booing late in the third quarter.
Heat 82, SuperSonics 74
In Miami, Eddie Jones scored 19 points, and Rafer Alston hit two crucial 3-pointers in the final two minutes as Miami downed Seattle.
The Heat led by 16 points in the first half -- thanks to Seattle tying a franchise record for futility -- but had to rally down the stretch after falling behind.
Alston hit back-to-back 3-pointers to rally the Heat to their fourth win in five games. Miami trailed 72-70, but Alston hit a 3 to put the Heat ahead then another to highlight a game-closing 12-2 run.
The Sonics, who lost their fifth straight game and ninth in 10, tied their all-time low for fewest points in a quarter and half. They had eight points in the first period.
76ers 99, Knicks 94
In Philadelphia, Kenny Thomas hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left in regulation, then made a tying layup with 0.2 seconds left in the first overtime of Philadelphia win over New York.
Thomas scored 25 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for his 10th straight double-double, helping the Sixers -- again without Allen Iverson -- win their season-high fourth straight game. Aaron McKie scored 22 points and Eric Snow added 19.
Snow scored five straight points on free throws in the second overtime to clinch a thrilling game.
Allan Houston had 25 points and Stephon Marbury 21 for the Knicks (29-37), who are now only one game ahead of the Sixers (28-38) in the Eastern Conference standings.
Timberwolves 96, Lakers 86
In Minneapolis, Kevin Garnett had 20 points and 12 rebounds and Troy Hudson added 19 points off the bench to lead Minnesota over Karl Malone and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Shaquille O'Neal led Los Angeles with 24 points and 13 rebounds and Malone had 13 points in his first appearance since Dec. 21, but the Lakers lacked the spunk showed by the Wolves in the decisive second half.
Sam Cassell scored 17 points and Latrell Sprewell added 16 for Minnesota, which won for just the third time in seven games.
The crowd of 20,391 was the largest ever at Target Center.
Grizzlies 98, Clippers 89
In Memphis, Tennessee, Pau Gasol scored 24 points and grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds as Memphis beat the Los Angeles Clippers to all but guarantee the first .500 season in franchise history.
Memphis won its 41st game of the season as Gasol, playing in honor of his countrymen killed and injured in Thursday's terrorist bombings in Spain, took over in the fourth quarter when the Clippers made a comeback. Bonzi Wells, who had 19 points, scored nine straight Memphis points to finish off the Clippers.
The victory, Memphis' seventh straight, moved the Grizzlies a half-game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks for the Western Conference's fifth playoff spot. The Grizzlies swept Los Angeles, the first time they've swept a Western Conference foe in franchise history.
Spurs 99, Warriors 74
In San Antonio, Malik Rose, starting in place of the injured Tim Duncan, scored 17 points to help San Antonio defeat Golden State.
Six other Spurs finished in double figures. Kevin Willis, at 41 the NBA's oldest player, had 16 points in 19 minutes, and Manu Ginobili also scored 16.
Duncan saw 15 minutes of action in Wednesday's win over the Los Angeles Clippers, scoring nine points. But the team said Friday that he had to strengthen his leg more before returning to the lineup.
Nuggets 117, Bucks 111
In Milwaukee, Rookie Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points and had a career-high nine assists as Denver tied a season-high in points with its win over Milwaukee.
Andre Miller had 23 points and Nene added 21 as the Nuggets scored 65 second-half points to win for only the third time in the past 12 games.
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