ATLANTA – After the Knicks drove the lane in Game 1, Dikembe Mutombo drove Patrick Ewing back to his hotel.
“He was talking more to my daughter than to me,” said Mutombo.
Presumably, Ewing nevertheless thanked his good buddy and rival for his second free ride of the night. The Knick center played only 17 minutes because of foul trouble and his team still scored 100 points and won by eight.
Meanwhile, his good friend and pleasant matchup had 13 rebounds, two blocks, two steals, three assists and 14 points in 46 minutes, decent numbers that nevertheless had about as much effect on the game as did Herb Williams. An intimidating presence Mutombo was not.
“When he came to help, we found Patrick for medium-range jump shots that he made,” said Jeff Van Gundy. “That’s going to make [Mutombo] be more aware of his own man. I don’t think it was a lack of activity on his part, more our driving and finding the right guys.”
True. And in his other 29 minutes, Mutombo blanketed the dangerous Chris Dudley, last known to have made a spot-up jumper against Cornell, while Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell were parading to the basket. At the other end, the Hawk center tried only eight shots, not much of a put-up for a guy who refuses to shut up.
After predicting a Hawk victory in the series, Mutombo had better start applying some elbow grease into Game 2 tonight or he is in for some serious shame. Fortunately for him, Mutombo’s got the lubrication by the barrel.
No joint in any arm has ever left more noses out of joint and put more gaps in smiles. Among Mutombo’s victims was Chris Childs on a visit here this season. So, when Mutombo talked yesterday about the Hawks’ need to rearrange their priorities, beware the rearrangement of some Knick faces.
“Maybe I have to be fired up more than I was [Monday],” he said. “I have to maybe take the ball more to the hoop. I am going to be prepared.
“They did whatever they wanted to and drove to the basket. We didn’t do a great job collectively. We can make an adjustment. Game 1 was important, but Game 2 is do or die. Whatever we have to do to win, we have to do it.”
Sounds like some serious short-arming coming up. Inadvertent, of course. The Hawks’ only chance to put teeth back in the league’s best defense is to put some teeth out in the process. That’s right, get their hands as dirty as Mutombo’s reputation.
For the Hawks to win, these games have to be stagnant enough to draw flies, and Mutombo has to start swatting, something he has rarely done against Ewing. The father figure, dragging a bad left Achilles and a sore right hip, should immediately be put to hard labor, but Mutombo has been deferential throughout his career toward his Georgetown mentor and just plain deaf to that particular criticism.
With a chance to reach the third round for the first time in his eight-year career and lift the franchise to its premier conference final since moving to Atlanta in 1968, Mutombo has to lose the reverence and try to rev up more offense against an old man whose lateral movement currently is shot. Perhaps Mutombo has a back injury from all that genuflecting. Asked about his passivity against Ewing, the three-time defensive player of the year answered passively.
“I can’t give you a great answer to your question,” he said. “I don’t care who is guarding me, I just want to play my game. I’m comfortable also with Chris … uh, uh …”
Dudley?
“Yes, I don’t mind having him on the floor. That gives an opportunity to dominate on offense. I do different things against him.”
Hmm. We must have missed them in Game 1.
“Patrick will be Patrick and Dikembe Mutombo will be Dikembe Mutombo,” said the Atlanta pivot. “I always say I want to walk away from this game having people say: ‘He was one of the great defensive players to ever play this game.’
“I don’t want people to put me in the top 10 all time in assists. Put me where I wanted to be, a top-grade rebounder and shot blocker. Bill Russell was able to do it. While he was winning nine championships in 12 years, Wilt Chamberlain was scoring 100 points a game. Different players have different games. We all want to be remembered differently.”
Guys who never score big and never get past the second round are barely remembered at all, an essential truth that can’t be bent, unlike elbows.
Mutombo’s seem as hard to control as things that critics say. This means that if his third try to backstop a team past the third round is going to succeed, the Knicks, doing swimmingly at this point, will have to begin to duck.
