Tarrytown, N.Y. ? New York Knicks guard Allan Houston retired Monday, unable to recover from knee injuries that kept him out much of the last two seasons.

A two-time All-Star and member of the 2000 Olympic team, Houston was one of the NBA’s best outside shooters before he was slowed by chronic knee soreness. He was limited to only 70 games during the last two seasons.

“I did everything I possibly could to get back and finish my career the way I would have liked to,” Houston said at the Knicks’ practice facility. “My injuries just wouldn’t let me do it.”

The 34-year-old Houston appeared in only 20 games last season and averaged 11.9 points, his worst season since he was a rookie. He did not play in either of the team’s two exhibition games.

Houston’s retirement leaves Larry Brown without his top outside shooter as he begins his first season as Knicks coach. New York could use Jamal Crawford or offseason acquisition Quentin Richardson at the shooting-guard spot opposite Stephon Marbury.

Knicks president Isiah Thomas had hoped the trio of Houston, Marbury and Crawford would make the Knicks title contenders again.

“I thought that would make the best backcourt in the NBA,” Thomas said. “We never got a chance to do that.”

Houston averaged 17.3 points during his 12 NBA seasons, including a career-high 22.5 in 2002-03, his last full season. He shot 40.2 percent from three-point range.