MIAMI – On the wall in the Miami Heat locker room, is an oversized painting of a ring. “Miami Heat World Champions, 1999” the ring says, in such precise detail that you would think such a ring actually existed.
The mural only underscored how strongly the Heat believe this could be the season they win their first NBA Championship. Certainly, no team in the playoffs could be more ready for the tournament to begin than the Heat: No. 1 seed, Atlantic Division champions, groomed and nurtured by Pat Riley for the only season that matters, the second season.
Imagine the sense of deflation three hours later after the Knicks had ravaged the Heat 95-75 in a whipping so thorough the crowd at Miami Arena began to leave with seven minutes left in the game. “It was about as complete as it could in one game,” Heat coach Pat Riley said of the “[butt]-kicking” administered by a Knicks.
Nevermind, that only one eighth seed has ever beaten a No. 1 seed. Any psychological edge the Heat might earned while formulating the best record in the Eastern Conference was reduced to nil yesterday afternoon as the Knicks exposed the Heat as a team with few means of life-support when Tim Hardaway is going bad.
Hardaway, the point guard whose dagger threes have often buried the Knicks, was 4 of 19 from the field and just 1 of 7 from 3-point range, leaving Alonzo Mourning as the only real offensive threat for the Heat. Mourning scored 27 points, but the rest of his team was a collective 17 of 62. Even with Mourning’s numbers, the Heat shot just 34.6 percent from the field, compared to a stunning 52.7 percent for the Knicks, who had four players in double figures and outrebounded Miami, 45-34.
“Defense has been our crutch,” Mourning said. “It has gotten us the No. 1 and the Atlantic Division championship. But we didn’t utilize our strength. We can’t win with them shooting 50 percent.”
This was simply the best performance the Knicks have enjoyed all season. Allan Houston, whose game has gotten quietly consistent, helped jump start the Knicks en route to 22 points. Patrick Ewing scored just nine points, but moved the ball efficiently to the open man and grabbed 15 rebounds. Larry Johnson was productive in the post with 15 points and Latrell Sprewell came off the bench for 22 points, while Marcus Camby added 11.
The Knicks may not have an easier game against the Heat the rest of series, but for one afternoon in Miami, they looked more like the No. 1 seed than the No. 1 seed did. “We just got on one of those rolls and they missed a lot of good open shots they usually make,” Jeff Van Gundy said. “We just had a good day.”
It was a dominating day. The Knicks have been the picture of calamity and confusion for most of the season. But yesterday, they were unselfish and unrelenting. They scored in the half-court offense, they scored off transition baskets and they scored off turnovers. Late in the third quarter, when the Heat were within 10, the Knicks didn’t tighten up but continued to share the wealth.
During a three-minute span, Houston drained two free throws, Johnson maneuvered past Mourning, Ewing converted a three-point play, Johnson drained a three and Sprewell zoomed through the heart of the Miami defense for a 70-52 lead.
“We executed the best for 48 minutes better than at any time since I’ve been here,” said Chris Childs.
Before the game, Hardaway had inquired about the conditions of Childs’ sore right knee and whether the Knicks point guard was at full strength. Told that the knee was still sore, Hardaway, who is enduring his own aches and pains, licked his lips, perhaps hoping to use it to his benefit.
Hardaway did manage to shake free for several open shots, but never could convert the big baskets to keep his team and the crowd in the game. “Tim knows we need him to play well to be productive,” Mourning said. “But we, collectively, need to help him. When we’re helping each other we’re a better ball club.”
It also had to be a touch embarrassing to the Heat that they were the first to lose their cool. P.J. Brown, who went to chapel with Charlie Ward about 90 minutes before gametime, was ejected in the fourth quarter receiving two quick technical fouls. He got the first technical for pushing Childs and then got the second technical for arguing. Houston drained both technicals to put the Knicks up 77-55. That’s when the building started to empty and the few Knicks fans began chanting, “Let’s Go Knicks.”
“I guess they like this place better than we do,” Hardaway said, glumly.
Yesterday, Miami Arena might as well have been the Garden.
