Latrell Sprewell stripped the ball from Sixer guard Eric Snow near midcourt and loped down the court, his face aglow. The Garden was ready to explode as Sprewell soared in for his trademark two-handed tomahawk dunk that would put the emphatic stamp on his anticipated season debut.

With 9:11 remaining, Sprewell dunked with ferocity, but instead of the jam putting the exclamation point on his return, it resulted in a momentum-killer. Sprewell’s slam was wiped out as was a storybook return.

Referee Luis Grillo blew his whistle late and called a foul on Kurt Thomas, who body-checked a trailing Brian Skinner. Sprewell’s jam – which would’ve put the Knicks ahead seven points – disappeared and so did he down the stretch.

Sprewell’s back, but the Knicks’ fourth-quarter meltdowns are alive and well. Blowing a nine-point lead in the final eight minutes, the Knicks dropped a 93-92 last-second heartbreaker at the Garden. Howard Eisley missed a 3-pointer on a busted play with eight seconds left to finish off a busted afternoon.

Sprewell’s return gave the Knicks a jolt, but some offbeat happenings ruined his debut as they fell to 1-8, tying the worst nine-game start in franchise history.

“We have a lot of basketball left,” said Sprewell. “If we give up now, it can get a whole lot worse.”

Sprewell scored 16 points in 31 minutes off the bench. He hit 6 of 15 shots. But he petered out down the stretch, ultimately upstaged by bus driver Keith Bishop, who won $1 million during a second-quarter timeout by banking in a halfcourt shot that had the Garden buzzing for minutes.

“For whatever reason, I didn’t seem as involved late in the game as I probably want to be,” said Sprewell, who missed his last three shots and didn’t score in the final 10:50.

Sprewell received a solid ovation when Don Chaney inserted him with 3:00 left in the first quarter and the Knicks behind 16-7. With the Knicks stumbling early, fans chanted Sprewell’s name as he sat on the bench.

“If it was up to me, I would’ve been there a little earlier,” said Sprewell, who also opened the second half on the bench and didn’t get in until 3:44 left in the third.

Considering he hadn’t played in seven months, Sprewell was impressive in barreling to the basket for three quarters, though his perimeter shots were mostly hideous.

Sprewell opened the fourth quarter by hitting a turnaround jumper in the low post to give the Knicks a 69-67 lead and he seemed poised to take over after knocking in a right-wing trey with 10:50 left that drove the Knicks lead to 74-67. They were his last points.

“It was the play I was definitely waiting for,” Sprewell said of the slam dunk waved off by Thomas’ foul. “I knew that was something that was going to get the crowd into it. To get it taken away was a disappointing. The fans were disappointed and ticked off the play didn’t stand.”

Said Thomas: “It’s a bad call, but I’m used to it.”

Thomas told Sprewell he was afraid Skinner was going to foul him hard. Thomas told reporters he was boxing out.

A flagrant foul on Michael Doleac, who face-washed Allen Iverson on a drive with 1:52 left, also hurt. Iverson made the free throws to tie the score at 89, but the bigger killer was Keith Van Horn’s offensive putback with 51.8 seconds left to put Philly ahead 91-89.

“I’m at a loss for words, it’s never been like this,” Houston said.