KNICK NOTES

Jeff Van Gundy defended the Knicks for their lack of composure in the loss to the Lakers when both Kurt Thomas and Chris Dudley were ejected. Thomas was ejected for slamming Dennis Rodman to the floor while Dudley got thrown out for throwing the basketball at and hitting Shaquille O’Neal. Thomas was upset by Rodman’s dirty tactics.

The NBA yesterday fined Thomas $5,000 and Dudley $2,500. O’Neal, who instigated the Dudley incident by pushing Dudley to the floor after landing in his lap following a dunk, was slapped with a $3,500 fine. The Lakers’ Rick Fox also was fined $2,000 for jumping into the Rodman-Thomas fray.

Game-deciding melees involving Van Gundy’s Knicks are nothing new. Remember the Miami meltdowns, of course. Van Gundy said this was different, however.

“I think, again, you go to any team, they’re going to have incidents like that [in LA], like one game in our first 30,” Van Gundy said. “I think every team has those, whatever you want to call it, lapses, bad judgment. Dudley never had done anything like that before we got him and Kurt’s been here so few games.”

Van Gundy said he was not surprised that O’Neal was fined more money than Dudley. “I thought that when it happened,” he said. “It’s just unfortunate that in the course of the game, the officials found Dudley more at fault, but the league found [O’Neal] more at fault. That hurt us in the game, but that’s how it goes.”

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Larry Johnson did not take part in the shootaround because of back spasms. He was listed as doubtful before the game, but he did manage to start.

Latrell Sprewell’s lawsuit against the NBA, challenging the 68-game suspension, was dismissed this week by a federal judge who said the suit was worthless and that Sprewell must pay the NBA’s court costs. It appears Sprewell may continue the fight in court. “It was disappointing,” he said of the decision, “but I haven’t talked to my counsel about it in detail. I have to see what my options are, if any, I don’t know.”