| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
 GAME FLOW
MIAMI (AP) -- Alonzo Mourning butted heads Sunday with the New
York Knicks and came away a winner.
Mourning, briefly dazed in a head-to-head collision with Charlie
Ward in the third period, shook off the cobwebs and sank the game's
final two shots, giving the Miami Heat an 87-83 victory in the
opener of the second-round playoff series.
|  | | Patrick Ewing played a strong game with 17 points and nine rebounds. |
"We've got a long way to go, man," Mourning said. "I heard a
lot of people saying, 'Zo, you won the battle today.' This series
is far from being over."
The Heat, eliminated in the opening round by New York each of
the past two years, will try for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven
matchup Tuesday night in Miami.
After a week of hype leading to the series, the bitter rivals
started with a thriller. The score changed hands 14 times and was
tied 11 times, including at 79, 81 and 83.
"I think that's the way this series is going to be played,"
Heat coach Pat Riley said.
"We thought we had it won," Knicks center Patrick Ewing said.
"We've got to play a little better down the stretch."
The Knicks didn't make a basket in the final 5:34, and Mourning
didn't miss in the final minute. First he got a half step inside on
Ewing, took a feed from Dan Majerle and scored for an 85-83 lead
with 41.8 seconds to go.
Miami regained possession when P.J. Brown tipped an Allan
Houston pass, and Mourning swished a 17-footer with 5.6 seconds
left.
"Zo was the go-to man," Brown said. "When he took those
shots, I had no doubt they were going in."
The officials called only five fouls in the opening period, but
after that the game was more characteristic of the bruising
rivalry. Mourning and Ward banged heads scrambling for a loose ball
in the third period, but both stayed in the game.
"The Heisman Trophy winner had some flashbacks for me,"
Mourning said with a chuckle. "It kind of shook me up a little
bit. I didn't play too much football."
Ewing, who boasted earlier this week that he's the best center
in the Eastern Conference, came out second-best against close
friend Mourning. The Heat center scored his team's final eight
points and finished with 26 to go with six rebounds.
Ewing, who sat out practice Saturday because of back spasms,
showed no effects from the ailment and had 17 points and nine
rebounds in 40 minutes.
"Both teams go to us quite a bit, especially down the stretch,
but it's not a one-on-one matchup," Mourning said. "We're going
to have our battles in the post, but there's more to it than this
matchup."
Tim Hardaway, who missed the Heat's first-round sweep of Detroit
because of a sprained left foot, rejoined the starting lineup and
had six points and seven assists in 30 minutes.
"I wanted to just control the tempo and be another scoring
threat out there," Hardaway said.
The veteran point guard gave the Heat a scare when he appeared
to re-injure his left foot as Ward dribbled past on his way to a
layup early in the second half. Hardaway limped off the court and
to the locker room but was back in the game seven minutes later
after having his ankle retaped.
"It was hurting pretty bad," Hardaway said. "Then I walked
around in the locker room and it started feeling better."
Miami's Jamal Mashburn scored 21 points and helped hold Latrell
Sprewell to 11. Brown had eight points and 16 rebounds.
After a frantic stretch in which the lead changed hands seven
times in five minutes, Ewing's free throw made the score 77-77.
Sprewell sank two free throws with 55 seconds left to make it
83-all, but the Knicks didn't score again.
They went 0-for-5 with four turnovers in the final 5:34. The
last three misses were by Sprewell, Chris Childs and Larry Johnson.
"Terrible execution," Sprewell said. "When you play a team
like the Heat, you can't disappear down the stretch the way we
did."
Game notes
Heat rookie Rodney Buford, arrested on a marijuana
possession charge April 30, was not in uniform Sunday. Coach Pat
Riley declined to say whether Buford will rejoin the team during
the series. ... Ewing missed practice Saturday for the first time
since Dec. 10. ... Anthony Carter, Hardaway's backup, had no
assists and four turnovers in 18 minutes. A 75-foot basket by
Carter didn't count because he released the shot just after time
expired at the end of the first quarter. ... Brown set Heat playoff
records with nine rebounds in the first quarter and 12 in the first
half. ... Miami and New York have split 18 playoff games. ... The
Heat had no turnovers in the fourth quarter.
| |
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
New York Clubhouse
Miami Clubhouse
RECAPS
Miami 87
New York 83
Portland 94
Utah 75
LA Lakers 105
Phoenix 77
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Alonzo Mourning knew winning Game 1 was very important.
wav: 85 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Jamal Mashburn talks about Alonzo Mourning hitting the game-winning shot.
wav: 114 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Jeff Van Gundy says turnovers were a big factor in Game 1.
wav: 80 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Latrell Sprewell says execution made the difference in Game 1.
wav: 199 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Tim Hardaway explains the last seconds of Miami's victory.
wav: 156 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
|
