Marcus Camby has begged for minutes all season long.

Now that he’s been granted some vital playing time from Jeff Van Gundy, Camby has responded. On Sunday he scored 19 points and pulled down eight rebounds in 27 minutes in the 93-78 win over the Nets at the Meadowlands, the Knicks’ second straight road victory. That was nine minutes more than he usually plays and 27 minutes more than he played against the Heat earlier this year.

The Knicks will need a lift from Camby tonight against the Sixers at the Garden, a game that will play a big part in determining the team’s playoff role, or lack of one.

The Knicks (20-17) are in seventh place, a half-game ahead of the 76ers (19-17) in the bunched-up East. Here’s some dandy Camby numbers to digest:

Van Gundy’s biggest complaint has been lack of rebounding with the loss of Charles Oakley. Camby is averaging 5.4 rebounds a game, but is only averaging 18.7 minutes. If you project his numbers over 48 minutes, Camby would average 13.9 rebounds. Interestingly enough, if you project Oakley’s rebound totals over 48 minutes, he would have 11.4 rebounds. In fact, Camby would be a shade under Patrick Ewing’s rebound totals with 48 minutes (14.0). Chris Webber leads the league with 12.9 rebounds per game and would average 15.2 rebounds over 48 minutes, only 1.3 more rebounds than Camby’s projected number.

The key, of course, is giving Camby the minutes and making sure he can stay healthy. Before this mini-winning streak, he missed three straight games – all Knick losses – with a pulled groin.

“It’s good to get out there and finally play some quality minutes,” said Camby, who is averaging 6.2 points. “We’ll be playing against some teams that are ahead of us the next couple of weeks, so hopefully we can knock some guys off and get this thing rolling.”

Camby said he has stayed “mentally tough throughout this whole ordeal. It was tough in the beginning.”

“He’s waiting his turn and not pouting and when he gets the opportunity he’s done a hell of a job,” Larry Johnson noted. “I’m really impressed.”

Added Charlie Ward, “He’s played well. I’m very happy for him. People have been killing him, they’ve been giving him a rough time but for the most part, he’s played well and has done what he has needed to do, block shots, get up and down the floor, play defense.”

“That’s the Marcus Camby I know,” Chris Childs said after Camby helped dispatch the Nets with 13 points in the second quarter. “He just needs to play, go ahead and play his game, a lot of energy … We need him to go out and score points and be aggressive.”

“He gave us some nice energy the last two games,” said Knicks GM Ernie Grunfeld, who went out on a thin, 6-11 limb to land Camby. “He’s helped us win a ballgame [Sunday] and all we’re concerned about is winning. We want all our players to play well and contribute. He’s handled himself with class, has worked hard and has done whatever the team has asked of him.”

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The NBA finally caught up to hit man Dikembe Mutombo yesterday, fining the elbow-flaring center $7,500 for hitting Childs in the mouth with an “elbow,” a blow that knocked out Childs’ front left tooth.

The incident occurred in the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ 86-78 victory in Atlanta Friday. Although this was the third shot to an opponent’s head causing damage this season, it was the first time Mutombo was fined. Early in the season, he broke the noses of Jayson Williams and Vitaly Potapenko.

Childs, who vowed revenge on Mutombo in their next meeting (April 28), going so far as to say Don King should set the rematch, was not fined for his threats. But a league official admitted that Childs will be watched carefully in that game.