Knicks keep point guard Billups for next season
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Knicks have decided to retain point guard Chauncey Billups for next season, the NBA team said on Wednesday.
The Knicks hope the five-time All-Star, who has played 13 seasons in the NBA, will join Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony in boosting a team that was eliminated from the first round of the playoffs by the Boston Celtics on Sunday.
He and Anthony were acquired by the Knicks from Denver in February.
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"Chauncey, Amar'e and Carmelo are a great nucleus, as we continue to look to improve our team going into the offseason," Knicks president Donnie Walsh said in a statement.
Billups, 34, averaged 17.5 points and 5.5 assists in 21 games with the Knicks during 2010-11 regular season.
(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina; Editing by Frank Pingue)