Knicks 83 Pacers 81

Patrick Ewing got away with one when the officials missed his redirection of a Larry Johnson 3-pointer with 21.7 seconds left — a play that should have been offensive goaltending.

But in the end, his game-winning 11-foot trademark fadeaway from the left side with two seconds remaining was as legitimate as his Hall of Fame career. It lifted the Knicks to a thrilling-but-controversial 83-81 victory over the Pacers at the Garden, prompting the

Pacers to scream bloody murder afterward and referee Joe Crawford to release a statement saying he “screwed up.”

The Pacers were understandably irate, with Reggie Miller saying his club got “cheated.” But after what the Knicks endured in Sunday’s Tim Hardaway heartbreaker, they were entitled to some good fortune.

“Nobody can really tell [if Ewing touched it],” Allan Houston said afterward. “Obviously if it happened to us, we’d be really upset because you can’t tell. They have a right, but we came out with a loss [Sunday] night after a miraculous shot. Tonight, after another miraculous shot, we come out with a win. That’s how it goes.”

The victory was a huge mood-lifter and erased any sort of Hardaway hangover following that overtime loss Sunday in Miami that all but cost the Knicks a chance at the Atlantic Division title. The Knicks moved two games behind Miami, which lost last night in Philly, with five to play. But the Knicks likely will be stuck as the third seed unless Miami collapses completely.

“We are playing for pride and we want to go into the playoffs playing well,” Ewing said.

Last night’s Knick victory was tarnished because of the LJ 3-pointer that should not have counted with 21.7 seconds left. Trailing by one point, Johnson unleashed a 3-point shot from the right corner that Ewing reached up and directed in, his right hand circling over the cylinder. Ewing immediately turned around to the officials, looking guilty.

But the refs, who had a brutal evening throughout, somehow missed what was clearly offensive goaltending or at the very least a Ewing two-pointer. But the three stood, giving the Knicks an 81-79 lead with 21.7 seconds left.

Crawford released a statement afterward saying he blew the call. “I screwed the play up,” Crawford said. “We just watched it. The tape doesn’t lie.”

But Ewing tried to, predictably being coy.

“Don’t ask me nothing about that shot because I don’t know what happened,” Ewing said playfully.

Ewing was asked repeatedly about it and stuck to his lines. “I don’t even remember that play so stop asking me about it,” Ewing finally said.

However, Johnson said later that Ewing fessed up. “It didn’t look like he touched it, but Patrick said he did,” Johnson said.

Johnson did his “L” sign after making the shot but probably should’ve tried to do a “P” for Patrick. Ironically, Johnson killed the Pacers last spring in the Eastern Conference Finals with a four-point play in Game 3 that turned the series around and had the Pacers sniveling, too.

“We’re used to that,” Pacers coach Larry Bird said. “It happened to us last year. What can you do?”

With the game on the line — score tied in the last seconds — the Knicks went to Ewing on the low left block. Like it or not, Ewing has become their sure-fire go-to guy in the final minute, although Patrick said Houston was to be the first option on that final play but he was covered at the top of the key.

Latrell Sprewell dumped it in to Ewing, the second option, instead. Ewing backed in Dale Davis and spun for his patented fadeaway that went through to give the Knicks a two-point bulge that stood. “I got a good spot and I was able to hit my patented shot,” said Ewing, who scored nine points in the final 4:51, making 4 of 5 buckets, all jumpers, and finished with 20 points.

“Patrick’s made a lot of big shots,” Van Gundy said. “Sometimes he’s going to get criticized for his ability to play in the clutch. Just like any player, he’s not great every night but he’s our best fourth-quarter shooter, percentage-wise.”

After Ewing’s make, Miller, at the buzzer, missed a straightaway desperation 3-pointer from 26 feet out to seal the Knicks’ win and bring the Knicks within three games of Indiana for top seed.

After LJ’s controversial three, Miller tied it, drawing a foul on Marcus Camby on a drive down the lane. With the Garden crowd chanting “Reggie [stinks]”, Miller calmly sank two free throws to tie the score, 81-81.

Neither team had a lead larger than three points in the fourth and it figured to come down to the last shot. Left wide open from the right corner, Rik Smits had nailed a right-corner jumper to put the Indiana ahead 79-78 with 1:40 remaining.

That’s when Van Gundy inserted the forgotten man, Houston, who had picked up his fifth foul with 8:22. Houston promptly missed a 20-footer from the right wing with 1:18 left. Still trailing 79-78, Houston missed again from the same spot with 48.6 seconds left. Houston was 6-of-17 for 12 points.

Did somebody say this is Ewing’s team again?