Knicks Cool Down Heat In Fourth

As improbable as it may sound, it seems all the New York Knicks need to knock off the Miami Heat is to find out Patrick Ewing won't be available.

The Knicks pulled it off in last year's first-round playoff encounter, prevailing in five games with Ewing in street clothes nursing a wrist injury. Then on Sunday, it happened again.

New York stormed back from a 20-point deficit with 34 points in the fourth quarter, the last two coming on Chris Childs' free throws with 20.1 seconds left to beat the Heat 82-80.

"The Lord works in mysterious ways," Knicks guard Allan Houston said in bemusement. "Don't try to figure it out. Just go with it."

Ewing sat out with a flareup of his sore left Achilles tendon, the ninth contest this season he has lost to the nagging ailment. It was about as painful watching Alonzo Mourning dominate Chris Dudley and Kurt Thomas with 27 points through three quarters.

But Mourning was held to just two points the rest of the way as the Knicks suddenly heated up, hitting 11 of 14 field-goal attempts in the final period. Miami shot just 4-for-15 in the fourth.

"Very sweet," is all Ewing would say as he walked gingerly down the hallway outside the Miami Arena locker rooms.

Childs, involved minutes earlier in a melee that has marked this rivalry the past three seasons, was knocked to the floor by P.J. Brown after grabbing the rebound of a Tim Hardaway miss.

The enigmatic point guard drained both free throws, then finished the comeback by winning a jump ball against Hardaway in the final second after Jamal Mashburn fumbled a pass on Miami's final possession.

"We're playing as a tam now," said Childs, who finished with eight points. "We're not worried about who gets the print. We just want to win."

A 12-1 scoring spree by the Knicks cut the gap from 15 points to 74-70 on consecutive jumpers by Houston with 3:07 left. Two Houston free throws with 1:52 left brought New York within 77-74, and a 3-pointer by Larry Johnson tied it with 56.1 seconds left.

Hardaway countered with his own 3-pointer with 39.1 seconds left to put Miami back in front, but Marcus Camby dunked on Mashburn, was fouled and hit the free throw to tie it again with 33.1 seconds left.

"There were a number of plays from a mental standpoint that were questionable," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "When we fouled (Camby), it was a dead dunk. Then P.J. how far do you go for a loose ball when you know it's the penalty situation?"

Johnson led the Knicks with 23 points, and Houston finished with 17 despite a 7-for-17 shooting performance. New York's first win in three meetings between the teams this season also snapped a four-game Miami winning streak.

Miami (29-14) saw its lead for the best record in the Eastern Conference shrink to a half-game over Indiana, pending the Pacers' game in New Jersey on Sunday night.

After Mourning's 29 points, Brown added 15 for the Heat and Hardaway finished with 12 on 5-for-12 shooting.

"This is as bad as it gets," Hardaway said. "We had a 16-point lead (after three) and for the first two or three minutes we didn't do anything. We didn't make any shots, we didn't run the plans, we didn't play hard defense. They were making easy shots down low."

Tempers flared with 4:14 left as Mashburn and Thomas got tangled near the Knicks' basket. They wrestled as teammates closed in, with Childs and Miami's Dan Majerle also getting into a pushing match.

Mashburn and Thomas were assessed technical fouls, but nothing more. Still, the scene rekindled memories of fights that marked playoff series between the teams each of the past two years.

Notes: Before Sunday, Ewing had sat out six straight games from March 11-18 with Achilles tendinitis, then missed games April 14 and 16 when the tendon flared up again. ... The Knicks opened Miami's third sequence this season of games on three consecutive days, with road games the next two nights at Cleveland and New Jersey. The Heat swept their last three-in-three set Feb. 15-17. ... For the Knicks, Sunday began a stretch of three consecutive back-to-back sequences.

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