KNICK NOTES
ATLANTA – Times have changed. For years, Patrick Ewing foul trouble was bad news for the Knicks. Now, it may be bad news for the opposition. Listen to Atlanta’s Steve Smith talking about the problems presented by Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell playing together.
“They present a big problem because they both can run and shoot,” said Smith, referring to Houston and Sprewell who combined for 65 of the Knicks’ 100 points in Game 1, scoring 28 straight for the team at one point. “I think when Patrick went out of the game they ran more. We don’t want Patrick in foul trouble because they kind of go to them.”
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Grant Long on the Knicks: “They’re like the Dallas Cowboys. They have fans everywhere.” … As of noon yesterday, 17,000 tickets were sold for tonight’s game … Mookie Blaylock insisted the Hawks have to get up on Sprewell earlier than they did.
“Sprewell is really a great open court player. You’ve got to really catch him before he gets across halfcourt to slow him down and our defense has got to pick up,” he said.
Lenny Wilkens was pleased with the Hawks’ low turnover count, nine. But he gagged on what they led to, 15 Knick points.
“We turned the ball over not that many times, but what we yielded off turnovers was (unacceptable). We had nine turnovers but we yielded 15 points because we didn’t get back on defense,” he said. … Long claimed Game 1 wasn’t that physical, thanks to the refs: “The officials let us know very early how the game was going to be called. I don’t think it’s going to be that physical although there was some physical play at times, but for the most part the officials had a handle on it.”
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Jeff Van Gundy said Sprewell’s performance this season has been something special.
“I’ve been shocked that a guy could be this good after being out that long,” he noted. “He’s really been tremendous. Not only he didn’t play for a year. Then he had a major injury (fractured heel), and he’s coming to a new team and he’s having to go through all the scrutiny. So, he had besides the year off, so much more than most people have. I really have admired the way he handled it. Frankly, I never thought he could play this well in a shortened season.”
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Houston’s mother Alice said that her son’s series-winning shot against Miami was something special. She was at her daughter’s college graduation here in Atlanta when the shot was made and saw it on a small TV, but could not tell, at first, if the Knicks had won.
“We had a little TV and I saw him make the shot, but I didn’t have any idea how much time was left,” she said. “The next thing I saw was Jeff taking off his coat and he didn’t look like a coach who had won. And I couldn’t hear and I thought something terrible has happened. But to go home and watch the tape, to see Allan so emotional on that last shot, all his emotions were released on that shot. It’s the kind of shot that can transform a team. It was wonderful.”
