GAME 1 Knicks95 Heat75
MIAMI – Like so many other New Yorkers, the Knicks came home to South Florida yesterday as Latrell Sprewell found a playoff home in New York blue.
Playing as if they were in their own gym and displaying the kind of team play that had been lacking most of the season, the Knicks ran the Heat off the Miami Arena floor, storming to a 95-75 victory to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five opening round series with Sprewell and Allan Houston leading the way with 22 points each.
It marked the largest margin of victory in the playoffs for the Knicks since a 106-83 whipping of the Cavs in 1996, a span of 28 games. The Knicks won that opening series, 3-0, by the way.
This day, though, belonged to Sprewell.
“Spree had a great, great game,” explained Kurt Thomas. “He took over for us down the stretch and that’s what we need. That’s what management brought him in here for.”
This was the first-ever playoff win for Sprewell and he was officially welcomed to the Eastern Conference wars with a vicious Alonzo Mourning body slam on a breakaway layup with 1:14 to go in the second quarter. Sprewell made the basket and after limping to the line, he buried the free throw to put the Knicks up 15.
After the game his left knee was wrapped in ice. “My knee is sore now, but I knew this game was going to be physical,” said Sprewell, who came off the bench to hit 9 of 16 shots. “It was a hard foul, but if I haven’t torn a ligament or ripped anything, I’m going to be back out on the floor. I’m loving it right now.”
With Game 2 set for tomorrow here, the Knicks have put themselves in prime position to beat the Heat again this playoff season. But don’t forget, the Heat won Game 1 last season and lost the series and two years ago it was the Knicks who drew first blood but lost the war. Going back to the last six quarters here, the Knicks have had a 42-point turnaround against the Heat.
The Knicks came into this matchup as the No. 8-seed while the Heat had the No. 1 ranking in this most bizarre of all seasons. Only one time in NBA history has a No. 1 seed lost to an eighth seed. But few eighth-seeded teams have the firepower of Sprewell, who dominated this game off the bench.
“This was a total team effort,” Sprewell said.
The fans came late and left early, beginning to leave the court with eight minutes to go and the Knicks up by 22. They went on to lead by as much as 30.
Patrick Ewing played a forceful defensive role but was not the center of attention this time around and the entire Knick team benefited. He scored nine points, made four blocks, three in the first quarter. When Sprewell’s baseline runner put the Knicks on top 81-55 with 6:49 to go, he triumphantly charged upcourt, bouncing chests with teammates.
Instead of last year’s ugly choking incident with P.J. Carlesimo, Sprewell was showing a difference kind of rage, the rage of victory. Ironically, Ewing trailed the play as Sprewell celebrated. “The way we were playing it was hard not to be emotional,” Sprewell said.
“My teammates did a great job scoring and it was a total team effort,” Ewing said. “The goal is to win. If I have to score nine points and we win, so be it.”
Mourning led the Heat with 27, but Tim Hardaway was an atrocious 4-for-19.
“We’ve had these losses before,” said a disappointed Pat Riley, who labeled the loss a “[butt]-kicking. But today it was complete, and as complete as it can be,”
The frustrated Heat tried to start something midway through the fourth when they were getting hammered as P.J. Brown shoved Chris Childs in the face, drawing a technical foul. Brown was then hit with a second technical a few seconds later and was ejected
At the start of the game, Miami Arena was only half filled as the Heat fans evidently had something better to do than get here for the opening tip. The Heat were late arriving, too as the Knicks took every advantage, running out to a 10-point advantage. It was as if the Knicks had never slowed down from their trip here three Sundays ago when they stormed back from a 20-point second half deficit to pull out a two-point victory.
In the second quarter Sprewell took over, giving the Knicks the kind of one-on-one playoff force they haven’t had since Bernard King. As soon as Ewing came out of the game, Sprewell took off. It was a perfect example of why the Knicks acquired Sprewell. Sprewell scored 13 in the first half. The Heat bench did not score a point.
On Saturday, Jeff Van Gundy said the Heat were big favorites and that the Knicks had caught lightning in a bottle the last time here. The still have the lightning.
It’s Latrell’s Lightning, and it’s just starting to flash.
