By InsideHoops.com

New York Knicks guard Allan Houston speaking with the media after the Knicks home win over the Atlanta Hawks. New York's playoff hopes are hanging by a thread, but technically still alive.

Talk about the pressure you feel to perform night in and night out.

Allan Houston: I don't really look at it as pressure, or weight, I just look at it as just trying to do the best I can. I always thought that prior to this season I felt deep down that I was capable of just... more. And I always just want to improve. So, I don't look at it as carrying the team, because everybody plays a huge part, everybody plays a role. And everybody, it just so happened that I had a bigger role this year, because of early injuries, and fortunately I was able to just stick with the same thing I'd been doing early.

Do you feel like you're playing the best basketball of your career?

Allan Houston: I don't know, to me, I don't look at it as if I'm playing the best ball I've ever played, I look at it as, my mindset is different. I have a higher expectation of myself, and I have a more consistent focus. I just expect to do things that I haven't done on a consistent basis, and that's just the way it is. I think my teammates have a lot of confidence in me, and that always helps, when the coaches and teammates have a lot of confidence, and they're comfortable saying "get him the ball," and they're comfortable with me not just shooting the ball but making the right plays, I think that helps just as much as having confidence in yourself.

Will you check that Milwaukee score tomorrow?

Allan Houston: Now that we won I can probably look at it and check. That's probably what I want. If my son's calling my name I want to ignore him to go do that. Sometime I probably will, and see what happens.

LATRELL SPREWELL:

Latrell Sprewell on the Knicks playoff picture: "We know our chances are slim, but we are going to keep fighting until it's over. We want our record to be as good as it can be [at the end of the season]. We feel like we are a playoff team. We just had some games where down the stretch it didn't go our way."

KNICKS NOTES:

The Knicks are now 35-43. That's 5 more wins than all of last season... Allan Houston has scored 20-plus points for the 50th time this season. Latrell Sprewell has scored 20-plus points for the 24th time... New York is 27-7 when leading after three quarters... Shandon Anderson has played in 495 consecutive regular season games - that's the longest current streak in the league.


InsideHoops.com is the online leader in pro basketball coverage.