Knicks Beat The Heat

In the end, it didn't matter that Jeff Van Gundy darkened the out-of-town scoreboard or that Pat Riley sat three starters.

In a game that wound up meaning nothing, New York defeated Miami 101-88 on a bizarre night with both teams wary of whether the other might try to lose intentionally.

On Saturday, it'll be a whole different ballgame: Heat-Knicks III.

"Now the fun starts," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "You can never say that something crazy isn't going to happen."

Last year, a fight between Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning at the end of Game 4 led to suspensions that had a severe impact on a Game 5 won by New York.

In 1997, Miami came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat New York after several Knicks left the bench during a Game 5 fight between P.J. Brown and Charlie Ward.

"We are not a typical eight seed, so I don't think it will be a typical one vs. eight. It should be one of the best series to watch," Johnson said. "We have an opportunity to erase the bad feelings and bad taste that we've had throughout the regular season."

"I think both teams have matured, hopefully, out of past transgressions," Riley said.

Others on both teams tried to play down the chances of another series-changing altercation, but no one can ever be sure what will happen when the Knicks and Heat play.

"It's going to be a tough series, a physical series, but I don't think it will be a dirty series," Johnson said.

The Eastern Conference's best remaining 1990s rivalry had plenty of intrigue Wednesday night on the final day of the regular season.

After a day of both teams wondering whether they other might try to lose intentionally, Van Gundy ordered the out-of-town scoreboard kept dark so that his players wouldn't spend the game distracted by updates from the Detroit-Philadelphia game.

Had the Sixers lost, the Knicks could have moved up to the seventh seed and its undesirable matchup with the Indiana Pacers by winning.

And when Miami came out with a starting lineup that didn't include banged-up regulars Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway and Dan Majerle, there were rumblings that the Heat might be trying to tank the game in order to avoid a first-round matchup with New York.

"Every coach had to coach his own team, and I was just worried about the guys I had on the floor," said Van Gundy, who rested injured regulars Patrick Ewing and Chris Childs. "In the end, it came down to Philadelphia winning anyway."

Marcus Camby and Kurt Thomas of the Knicks had season-high totals of 22 and 20 points, respectively, in a game that lost any significance once the Philadelphia-Detroit game ended.

At the start of the fourth quarter, word was relayed by phone from the press room, where the other game was on TV, to courtside that the Sixers had won 105-100 in overtime meaning the Knicks were locked into the eighth spot and a first-round matchup with Miami.

The Philadelphia-Detroit score was finally posted on the main scoreboard with 6:37 left in the fourth quarter and brought little reaction from the crowd.

New York took the lead for good midway through the first quarter against a Miami lineup that included Rex Walters, Duane Causwell and Voshon Lenard as starters. Even Terry Mills, who had been on the injured list all season, got a chance to play.

The Knicks opened a 14-point lead late in the second quarter and allowed it to dwindle to three by the end of the third period. Miami pulled within one early in the fourth, but the Knicks wouldn't be caught.

Clarence Weatherspoon led Miami with 18 points, shooting 9-for-9.

Notes: Mourning was placed in the injured list prior to the game with a hip pointer. Hardaway rested the left knee he hyperextended earlier this season, and Majerle took no chances with an injured little finger on his shooting hand. ... Ewing sat out with Achilles tendinitis and Childs had a bruised right knee. ... Madison Square Garden president David Checketts met with the media before the game and said people have already begun calling him to inquire about taking over Jeff Van Gundy's or Ernie Grunfeld's jobs. He did not name names, and reiterated all team personnel will be evaluated at the end of the playoffs. ... The Knicks have won their last seven games against Miami when Ewing was not in the lineup.

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