Knicks: "Fire Chaney!"

With 28.5 seconds left and New York trailing the Dallas Mavericks 123-119, Houston, waiting for a chance for a steal, wasted 11 seconds before looking at his coach on the sidelines and committing a foul, which stopped the clock.

The Knicks never recovered from the mix-up and suffered a 127-121 loss. The fans, already unhappy at the team's poor season, made their feelings clear with renewed chants of "Fire Chaney."

Houston told reporters: "I take the blame...when the ball is in play, (Chaney) can't take the rap."

"I didn't think ahead, I wasn't sure how many points we were down or look at the clock before the ball came in. I should have known before the ball came in."

Chaney admitted he was responsible for the "miscommunication," a moment which will not have been welcomed by watching president Isiah Thomas as he plans his next move in a bid to transform the franchise. The Knicks, despite the recent additions of Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway, are 15-24 for the season and Chaney's record since taking over stands at 72-112.

Local media insist the coach is fighting to save his job.

Houston had already done his best to rescue the Knicks against the Mavericks, the Western Conference team which held a 20-point lead midway through the third quarter.

His thrilling three pointer with 5.9 seconds left of regulation, after a steal by Marbury, tied the game at 115-115 and forced overtime before the Knicks blew it again. Marbury finished with 38 points and 14 assists from 52 minutes in a breathtaking solo display but, despite weighing in with 29 points of his own, Houston still did not look 100 percent comfortable with his new team mates.

"I'm still adjusting," said Houston, the team leader before Marbury's arrival last week.

"Stephon is dominant in what he does but I'm sure I will still get my spots...I'm just trying to get used to a more open game."

"It's frustrating...I never used to get many open looks. Now I get open looks and I miss, and people are like 'Allan?'... but I never got open looks before so I'm not used to it."

"But we have been thinking too much about negatives (as a team), so that has to change."

Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks (21-16) with 31 points and 10 rebounds.