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Saturday, May 20, 2000

New York deflates
Miami to force
Game 7

Knicks rally from 18-point deficit
to stay alive in Eastern
semifinal series

By Hal Bock
Associated Press

NEW YORK -- As they left the court after the loss to the New York Knicks, the Miami Heat seemed stunned and done.

They had blown an 18-point lead and let the Knicks off the hook with a 72-70 win, forcing a decisive Game 7 tomorrow. This is not what they wanted and not what the Heat expected, especially not after the way they abused the Knicks in the first half last night.

"They are very, very disappointed, because they wanted to close out," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "But they walked in the locker room like it was their last chance, and it wasn't."

It never seems to be with these two.

Yesterday Indiana 106, Philadelphia 90, Indiana wins series, 4-2 New York 72, Miami 70, Series tied, 3-3 Today Portland at L.A. Lakers, 9:30 a.m. Tomorrow New York at Miami, 9:30 a.m.

Behind those downcast looks is the memory of the last two years, when the Knicks marched into Miami to win decisive series games and end the Heat's season. Alonzo Mourning promised that Game 6 would be a little payback for the Heat, a chance to come into Madison Square Garden and send the Knicks on their way for a change.

And it certainly started out that way.

The Knicks seemed lethargic and lackadaisical, making mistakes all over the place, helping the Heat to a big lead that stood at 15 points at halftime.

Coach Jeff Van Gundy said he didn't have much to say with the Knicks trailing the Heat 40-25.

"There were no adjustments to make," he said. "There was no nothing. We picked the most inopportune time to play the worst half we played all year, and we played very poorly. I told them they were going to be part of the best comeback in their playoff lives and if they didn't believe, stay in the locker room."

Allan Houston knew there was work to be done and time to do it.

"We didn't play a good first half," he said. "We didn't look back on this, and that's the key."

All the Knicks showed up for the second half and embarked on the best comeback of their playoff lives. They hit the first five shots and shaved the lead from 15 to 10 to five by the start of the fourth quarter.

Through it all, the Heat stayed in front, and Riley thought they would survive the Knicks' push.

"We were plus-six inside of three minutes," he said. "And we missed, turned it over, didn't rebound and fouled."

It sounded like just what the Knicks had done in the first half.

With the crowd roaring, the Knicks caught the Heat on a pair of foul shots by Chris Childs with 1:31 to play and then went in front on two more by Houston with 17.6 seconds left.

Now it would come down to one last shot. Riley wanted it to go to Mourning, who led the Heat with 22 points.

"We wanted to drive the basketball basically, posting up Zo, which is what we got," he said. "But he got immediately swarmed, and when he got swarmed, you've got to play. The ball came out and I thought we got a decent look at it. That's all you can ask for."

Anthony Carter, the former University of Hawaii star, missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

On the sideline, Van Gundy watched the flight of the ball and then got ready for Game 7.

PACERS 106, 76ERS 90

INDIANA: Rose 7-16 5-6 21, Davis 3-4 3-4 9, Smits 7-10 4-4 18, Jackson 6-10 0-0 12, Miller 10-19 2-2 25, Croshere 1-7 4-4 6, Perkins 1-4 0-0 3, McKey 1-1 1-2 3, Best 2-4 2-2 6, Tabak 0-0 0-0 0, Bender 1-1 0-2 3. Totals 39-76 21-26 106.

PHILADELPHIA: Lynch 4-7 5-6 14, Hill 5-11 1-2 11, Ratliff 4-11 3-5 11, McKie 6-16 7-8 19, Iverson 7-20 3-5 18, Kukoc 6-17 0-0 12, Snow 0-1 0-0 0, Bowman 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 1-3 0-0 2, MacCulloch 0-0 0-0 0, Ollie 1-1 1-2 3. Totals 34-87 20-28 90.

Indiana	37	19	29	21--106
Philadelphia	25	28	16	21-- 90

3-Point Goals--Indiana 7-17 (Miller 3-8, Rose 2-3, Bender 1-1, Perkins 1-3, Jackson 0-1, Croshere 0-1), Philadelphia 2-14 (Lynch 1-1, Iverson 1-4, Kukoc 0-2, Jones 0-2, McKie 0-5). Rebounds--Indiana 55, Philadelphia 48. Assists--Indiana 25, Philadelphia 15. Total fouls--Indiana 20, Philadelphia 20. A--20,969.

KNICKS 72, HEAT 70

MIAMI: Brown 0-3 0-0 0, Mashburn 3-12 2-2 8, Mourning 6-13 10-14 22, Hardaway 1-7 0-0 2, Majerle 3-9 1-1 10, Bowen 2-5 2-4 7, Weatherspoon 1-3 4-6 6, Carter 6-13 2-2 15, Thorpe 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-66 21-29 70.

NEW YORK: Johnson 2-6 2-2 6, Sprewell 6-16 3-4 15, Ewing 6-17 3-4 15, Houston 8-15 3-4 21, Ward 2-6 2-3 7, Camby 2-4 0-0 4, Childs 1-5 2-2 4, Thomas 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-71 15-19 72.

Miami	21	24	13	12--70
New York	16	14	23	19--72

3-Point Goals--Miami 5-22 (Majerle 3-7, Carter 1-3, Bowen 1-4, Hardaway 0-3, Mashburn 0-5), New York 3-10 (Houston 2-2, Ward 1-4, Johnson 0-1, Sprewell 0-1, Childs 0-2). Rebounds--Miami 48, New York 52. Assists--Miami 17, New York 13. Total fouls--Miami 24, New York 26. A--19,763.