He was there when the Knicks needed him to snap out of an early funk, but that was the best there was out of Latrell Sprewell. The defensive clamps applied by the Heat in this playoff series have wilted many of the Knicks, and Sprewell, their most dynamic offensive player, has not been immune to the abuse.
After a torrid start yesterday at the Garden, Sprewell cooled considerably, and in the full 24 minutes in the second half, he produced some very unattractive numbers: Two points on 1-of-5 shooting. If Charlie Ward did not bail out his teammates with a rare scoring eruption in New York’s 91-83 series-tying victory, Sprewell’s disappearing act might have cost the Knicks in a big way.
“The first half was great; the second half wasn’t that good,” Sprewell said. “I really didn’t get into a rhythm in the second half. I was trying to find other guys because I really wasn’t feeling comfortable on the floor. Allan [Houston] got going and then, of course, Charlie took over.”
This has not been a comfortable series for Sprewell, who shot a miserable 6-of-25 in the two-game split in Miami. He did not shoot especially well in Game 3, but he was aggressive enough to get 11 of his 23 points from the foul line. Yesterday, Sprewell got 14 of his 16 points in the first half, as he continued to have more problems than answers getting up and around the bigger but slower Jamal Mashburn.
Sprewell did have a team-high six assists, but he also had four turnovers and only one rebound. He’s making Mashburn (13 points) work for everything he gets, but this has not been the bust-out series that Sprewell enjoyed in outplaying Vince Carter and the Raptors in a first-round sweep.
At least he was better in the two home games then he was on the road, but Game 5 is in Miami, meaning Sprewell has to find his stroke at AmericanAirlines Arena.
“I think it’s the Garden, man,” Sprewell said, “just being home again, playing here, feeling a lot more comfortable on the floor here, with that crowd support you can’t help but get up and get going.”
He got going early, rising after the Knicks fell behind 11-4 with a listless first four minutes. He scored 10 points in the first quarter and did little afterward. His greatest hit came in the final second of the first half, when he hammered Mashburn, sending him to the floor in a heap, with Mashburn angered that a foul was not called on Sprewell as the halftime buzzer sounded.
Mashburn appeared to try to get at Sprewell just a bit as the two fell to the floor. “I was going for the ball. I thought it was just a loose ball play. I don’t think he took a swing on me. I don’t think it was intentional or anything,” Sprewell said. “Mash is not like that. We’re not good friends but we have a respect for one another. We’ve talked before off the court. It was nothing I did.”
