PHILADELPHIA – Within 2:14, Latrell Sprewell hit a driving lay-up, a jumper, a pull-up, another lay-up off a Kurt Thomas pick, and what had been a 10-point lead suddenly was down to two with 3:14 remaining.
Even on Easter Sunday the only religion Jeff Van Gundy believes should be mixed with basketball is his faith in defense.
Indeed, after several Knicks attended morning chapel, the NBA’s best defensive team went to the coach’s church yesterday as usual, which, coupled with 11 missed 76er free throws, explains how they had a chance to steal a road game from the Eastern Conference leaders despite shooting 39 percent and being outrebounded by 16.
With Marcus Camby still in street clothes and Allan Houston firing a sack-cloth-and-ashes 5-for-16 after three games of resting a thigh contusion, the Knicks nevertheless were right there almost to the end of their 89-82 loss, a last-week-of-the-season and playoff reminder that there is much to be said for veteran teams knowing how to keep themselves in games, even ones they have no business winning.
Of course, the difference between being close and ahead is always represented by more than a slight differential on the scoreboard. Allen Iverson nailed a 19-footer and a gorgeous running right-handed hook down the stretch that the Knicks did not. Usually, that’s hardly their problem, though. They have end-of-game options, as long as they can hang in there to use them.
“It was a great game with a lot of energy and passion,” said Sprewell. “If we are fortunate enough to play them again, it is going to be a battle. It was a statement game for us.”
Indeed, it was. And here, to us, is what it stated: The Knicks will need the 76ers to miss 11 free throws per game to have any chance against them without an active Camby. In light of a 2-7 record in the last nine games he has missed, there may not even be a way to get to Philly unless Camby provides good minutes against either Toronto or Charlotte.
Yesterday, that still seemed problematical. Camby reported that the hip he landed on in Indiana Wednesday was feeling better, the knot down to “wiffleball” size. But he has not yet tried to shoot out of fear that his body imbalance will throw off his stroke.
At this juncture, we would usually throw in a gratuitous and snide remark about Camby’s touch, but we’re trying to make a point here that he is indispensable, so restraint is called for, just as it was yesterday by the Knicks. When asked about their survival skills without their leading rebounder and shotblocker, 76er center Dikembe Mutombo said: “They were holding out a lot.”
Right, just like you have to be hope that the Knicks vat of Epsom salts runs deeper than Van Gundy’s rotation. Camby won’t practice until the Knicks do again on Thursday. We would assume that unless he is a complete wimp, as claimed by talk-show callers whose personal idea of intolerable pain starts with Larry Johnson coming into the game, Camby will give all he has beginning in Game 1 this weekend. But how much that will be is of the utmost concern, even if Van Gundy has to pretend it isn’t.
“I know he wants to play but a guy can’t until he’s healthy,” said the coach. “I think you [do disservice] as a coach if you are constantly worrying about who’s not there rather than who is and how you can play.”
Meanwhile, he will listen to suggestions as to how, indeed, you play without Camby’s 11.5 rebounds, 2.16 blocks and a phantom number of intimidations per game. “He’s just like Dikembe,” said the Sixers’ Aaron McKie. “A big guy who rebounds and changes shots.”
Nobody changes them like Mutombo, an absolute horse, but even Raptors’ Keon Clark or Hornets’ Elden Campbell could help cart the Knicks home early without an active Camby. The 76ers went to the boards yesterday like there were cheesesteaks on the rim, a hint about as subtle as a patented Mutombo elbow to the ol’ olfactory that over seven games there would be a considerable wearing-down effect.
That goes, even if Camby’s body holds up. And if it doesn’t? “Well, you can get outrebounded, but it can’t be by 16,” said Van Gundy. “You have to guard the ball better so that the bigs don’t have to help as much and can stay on the bodies of the other bigs.”
This is no small undertaking, why the 6-11 center’s status towers over the Knicks’ chances. Considering their size and lack of a dynamic inside scorer, they have had a good season, no matter how much their coach may disparage it in his ongoing zeal to make it even better. But having almost maximized their abilities at 47 wins with two games remaining, the Knicks go nowhere further without Camby.
