Knicks78 Sixers67

PHILADELPHIA – Nothing like a good butt-whipping to get your game in gear.

One night after the Knicks were taken to the woodshed by the Cavs, they crushed the Sixers, 78-67, last night at the First Union Center. Everything they did wrong the night before, they did right this time, mostly on the defensive end. Most of all, they did not quit as they had done in Cleveland when they were hammered, 98-74.

On a night they had to lean on someone to get them going, they leaned on Larry Johnson, who was playing despite a sore left knee. His effort helped the Knicks hold the Sixers to the least amount of points they have ever scored against the Knicks.

An hour before last night’s game, Johnson sat with a heating pad on the knee and a concerned look on his face.

“It feels the same,” Johnson said of the tender knee. “I’m just going to try and play through it.”

Play through it he did. Johnson ignited the Knicks in the first six minutes of the game, scoring seven points, grabbing four rebounds and handing out two assists as the Knicks took a 16-4 lead.

The tone was set and Allan Houston helped clean up the show in the second half, scoring 12 of his 25 points in the third quarter, hitting all four of his three-point attempts in the quarter as the Knick lead ballooned to 23 points. Houston was a perfect five-for-five from downtown. He had hit just six of 20 three-point attempts this season. Allen Iverson led all scorers with 29 points.

Without Johnson’s gutty start, though, the Knicks would have been in deep trouble, again.

Jeff Van Gundy, who criticized his team for quitting against the Cavs, was moved by Johnson’s performance.

“Larry has really developed into a great leader,” he said. “Tonight, most guys would have sat out. You look at his stat line, I don’t even know what it says, it doesn’t even matter. Stats are the most overdone thing in team sports. Guys derive energy from seeing a guy go out there who most likely, shouldn’t. That’s why Larry is special to me because he’s willing to go out there less than 100 percent, maybe not look quite as could as he would, but for the betterment of the team.”

Then Van Gundy broke it all down, the essence of Johnson’s 29-minute contribution.

“We don’t win that game tonight if he’s not on the floor.”

“I couldn’t get warm in warmups so I wanted to come out and run and run and run,” Johnson said, making the best of a bad situation.

As he talked he slowly and painfully pulled up his left pants leg over his sore knee.

“We can’t forget what happened Thursday night,” he added. “We got to understand why we didn’t play well, why we got beat the way we got beat and not let that happen again. It’s just so easy to be negative after a loss like that, especially with another game coming up (tomorrow against Bulls at Garden).”

Van Gundy learned something about his team .

“We’ve got Larry hurting, we got [Marcus] Camby hurting. Guys were tired and they found a way to fight and win,” he said. “Now we’ve got to build on that and we have to play hard on Sunday.

Van Gundy had a heart-to-heart talk with his team, a team with five new faces.

“I said to them (Thursday) I had a hand in most of them being here, at least a part of it,” he said. “I believe in them. I just didn’t believe in how they went about last night. I’m not a very complex guy as far as philosophically. Come out and work hard, play hard and play unselfishly. Your core guys have to be with you on that.”

This was the third time in five games the Knicks have held opponents under 70 points. Lockout Basketball, it’s Fantastic.

The Knicks hit their first seven three-pointers of the night and nine of 12 in the game. They played a spectacular first half, holding the Sixers to 27 points, a record low on this floor as the Knicks grabbed a 40-27 lead. The Knicks were back to their stingy defensive ways.

“We were embarrassed, but we bounced back well,” Van Gundy said.

This has not been a great place for Van Gundy & Co. It was here last year where Van Gundy offered his “I have disgraced myself” speech, the coaching equivalent of the Nixon Checkers speech.

The Knick frontcourt was humiliated Thursday night but got sweet revenge in the first half last night, outscoring their opposing starters, 37-17.

Patrick Ewing thoroughly enjoyed himself, bowing to the booing crowd and egging them on for more boos when they got on his case.

“I loved it,” Ewing said with a smile after finishing with 11 points. “It was like being back in Georgetown.”

A fun run for the Knicks, led by Johnson’s gimpy knee and big heart.