The Knicks will not practice today. When told the team has a rare day off, Allan Houston quipped, “I already took my day off.”

So did most of the Knicks last night in a 91-85 victory over the Rockets in which they had little to be proud.

Again, the Knicks played down to their competition after two big victories over Philly and San Antonio.

Patrick Ewing played down to what is left of decrepit Hakeem Olajuwon. And the Knicks nearly allowed the Rockets’ flashy rookie point guard, Steve Francis (32 points), to steal a game as the Rockets rallied from a 17-point third-quarter deficit to twice get within one point in the fourth.

On a night the foul-plagued Houston was in the building physically but not spiritually and Marcus Camby finally suited up but was extremely rusty, Latrell Sprewell prevented the lethargic Knicks from major embarrassment.

And Ewing came up big when needed most in the final three minutes as the Knicks eked out a letdown-tinged triumph over the awful Rockets, who are 8-22 on the road.

For their troubles, the Knicks moved within 3 ½ games of top-seeded Indiana, which they play twice over the final 19 games.

“I could sense in the locker room, we were ready to play, but not as serious as Philly and San Antonio,” said Houston, who finished with six points and fouled out with 5:15 remaining. “But the bottom line is we found a way to do it.”

Ewing (six turnovers) was sluggish most of the night but abused Olajuwon at the crucial moments after the Rockets made it a game. Ewing hit two free throws and nailed back-to-back jumpers over Olajuwon in a one-minute span, scoring six straight points to give the Knicks a 83-78 lead with 1:57 remaining. Ewing finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Olajuwon, age 37 going on 47, was 0-for-9 from the field in 28 sad-to-watch minutes as the Rockets failed to capitalize on their big rally.

“This is a game we could’ve lost,” Ewing said. “We didn’t play well.”

Said coach Jeff Van Gundy: “We didn’t have a whole lot of guys play real well but we found a way to win. We just didn’t have any type of flow. We looked very tired again.”

Back from a strained ACL, Camby received a huge ovation when he made his first appearance since Feb. 6, entering to start the second quarter. But he was a non-factor, playing 15 minutes, scoring two points with two rebounds and a block as his timing was off.

“I didn’t have my rhythm, I wasn’t cutting and driving and slashing, the things I was doing before I got hurt,” said Camby, who missed 17 games. “It’s going to take some time.”

Sprewell saved the night, scoring 27 points on 11-of-20 shooting, mostly on pull-up jumpers and running drives. He also had four steals.

As the season heads down the stretch, Sprewell seems as energetic as any Knick. He has led the club in scoring in seven of their last eight games, averaging 23.3 points and a superb 51.5 percent shooting.

“I felt John [Wallace, 17 points] and I were having good nights. The rest of the team … they weren’t really feeling it,” Sprewell said.

Houston, especially. Before fouling out, Houston played matador to Cuttino Mobley, who blew by him, darting right toward the baseline for a layup, foul and subsequent 3-point play, making it 74-72 with 5:15 left. Ewing checked back into the game then.

On the next possession, Houston was called for a loose-ball foul, elbowing Mobley. Afterward, Houston said only two of the six fouls were legit.

Francis’ alley-oop pass to Kelvin Cato for a jam got the Rockets within 64-63 with 9:40 left and the Rockets stayed on the Knicks’ tails for most of the fourth quarter. They were within 70-69 with 6:31 left on a three-point play by Walt Williams.

Ewing delivered the death blows. He made two free throws with 2:56 remaining to give the Knicks a 79-73 lead. But after a Francis 3-pointer made it 79-76, Ewing answered with a six-foot fade-away over Olajuwon, then a 10-foot face-up over the former “Dream” who has two rings but no more game.

Afterward, Ewing defended the fallen legend.

“I know he has things left,” said Ewing, in a renaissance these past six weeks. “You all said the same things about me. I am not going to fall into that trap. Hakeem is a great player and he is still a great player.”