Mark Jackson, who played five years with Patrick Ewing in his first Knick stint, is urging Garden fans to stand and cheer Tuesday night upon Ewing’s grand return.

“Anybody that boos Patrick Ewing doesn’t understand the game,” Jackson said. “The crazy thing is, we’re cheering guys these days [who are] selfish, who could care less about anything but numbers. Then you have a guy who laid it on the line, put his career on the line and played hurt. When he comes back in town, what should be done is showing him how much we appreciate him. He was the best Knick ever.”

Jackson felt robbed in many ways when he was separated from Ewing’s Knicks in 1992 in a trade that brought in Charles Smith and Doc Rivers. “I truly believe if I had never left and kept the team that we had intact, I thought we had a legitimate shot at winning.”

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Glen Rice‘s run of bad luck just never stops.

Had the Knicks not made the trade for Jackson at Thursday’s deadline, Jeff Van Gundy was ready to go through with plans of using Rice and the Big Backcourt to finish games. That meant point guards Charlie Ward and Chris Childs would have been on the bench while Rice was finally put to good use.

With Jackson aboard, Van Gundy has scrapped those plans. “I feel badly for him,” Van Gundy said of Rice. “We were going to go big to finish with Latrell at the point. But with Mark, we’ll stay conventional. I feel for [Glen’s] transition with our team. He’s been a starter from Day 1.”

In the two weeks leading up to the deadline, Van Gundy lauded Rice’s defense and his warrior-like ability to play through plantar fasciaitis. He talked about trying to find him more minutes, but now that talk has stopped.

Van Gundy spoke with Rice after the Jackson trade. “We talk all the time because it’s been difficult for him,” Van Gundy said. “He’s frustrated. We all know that. He wants to play more. He’s a starter whose not starting. I just don’t want it to build where frustration affects performance. That’s why we talk a lot. Whether that relieves his frustration, hopefully it helps that I’m sympathetic to his situation.”

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Playing the Lakers without Shaquille O’Neal will likely be easier than facing the Kings today without injured Chris Webber. Kings are 4-2 without him. “They have more balance to be able to withstand [Webber’s loss],” VG said.