(Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)

Oh, well. The streak had to end at some point, and I doubt many of us expected even a hot Knicks team to beat the Wizards twice in a week. New York still played pretty decent offense, but the prevalent energy and ball movement we came to love over the past three games faded and disappeared in the second half. The defense, meanwhile, completely went to shit, as Washington shot 57% over the tired Knicks. A few game notes:

• I missed the first quarter, but I have reason to believe the Verizon Center was on fire. What else could that be? Did Humpty spark a pre-game joint the size of a sequoia? Did Randolph Morris leave his pecan pie in the oven too long?
• The first half was a straight-up shootout. Antawn Jamison and Nick Young were on fire for the Wiz, while Nate came out firing and Quentin Richardson got hot for the Knicks. No defense was played, and many an open shot was stroked.
• Jared Jeffries took a second-effort layup that hit the bottom of the backboard.
• Announcers have noted that Jamal Crawford is among the leaders in minutes per game, and it showed tonight. He shot a solid 8-16 from the field, but was only 1-7 from downtown and slacked off on defense more than usual.
• Maybe I was seeing things, but I'm pretty sure I saw Caron Butler mock Q by mimicking his fists-on-the-head celebration after a made jumper in the second quarter.
• Bob Wischusen was kickin' play-by-play this evening. He's got kind of a froggy voice, and suffers from a mild case of Gus Johnson Syndrome (symptoms: hyper-excitability and frequent voice cracks), but wasn't bad overall.
• New York had very few fouls in the first half, which Clyde attributed to good defense with their "feet, not their hands". Looked to me like they just weren't contesting shots enough. Reminds me of that old story where all Doc Rivers' dad wanted to know after a game was how many fouls Doc had or some shit like that.
• I think I must've gotten a little second hand high from Humpty's pre-game tree-spliff, because I'm pretty sure I saw a commercial starring a kid spitting rhymes about Jimmy Neutron...that was somehow an advertisement for the New Jersey Devils.
• Oleksiy Pecherov wears his shorts way too high. They're long shorts too, which makes it even more ridiculous.
• Bob Wischusen's highlight of the night was when Nick Young took a Zach Randolph shot to the face, and was called for a foul. Said Wischusen, "Nick Young fouled Zach Randolph's elbow...with his face".
• I like the Lincoln Navigator commercial with Common.
• Jerome James got his first minutes in garbage time. He didn't do much, but he did get to the line and show perfect form in swishing two free throws. Until I have evidence to negate this, I will extrapolate those two free throws into a belief that Big Snacks has, in his absence from the game, developed a killer stroke and will soon fill the role of three-point gunner.

That's all I've got. The game felt like a loss most of the way, but it wasn't nearly as bad as anything we were seeing earlier in the season. The streak is over, but I wouldn't call the mini-renaissance over just yet. Unfortunately, the Knicks have to get right back to work tomorrow night in Miami. I'm headed back to school in the morning, but I should be here to thread it up. See you then.