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 GAME FLOW
MIAMI (AP) -- One more win, and the Miami Heat will have vanquished the archrival that ruined their last two seasons.
|  | | Jamal Mashburn led the Heat with a hard-earned 21 points. |
Getting two clutch 3-pointers from Dan Majerle and another from Bruce Bowen, the Heat defeated the New York Knicks 87-81 Wednesday
night to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference
semifinals.
Neither of the teams has beaten the other two straight times in
the postseason since the end of their 1998 series, yet that is
exactly what Miami will be trying to do Friday night when the
series resumes at Madison Square Garden.
"We know we have to win one more game. Easier said than done,"
Miami center Alonzo Mourning said. "We should go into New York
with the attitude that we're down one, not that we have a cushion.
When we have a cushion we tend to relax and exhale and not do
things we need to do in the effort department."
The key difference in Game 5 was the offensive burst they got
from Majerle, who hadn't cracked double figures in the series since
Game 1.
On a night when Jamal Mashburn scored 21 points and Mourning chipped in 18 before fouling out, Majerle's 16 were huge. Six of
them came on consecutive 3-pointers -- one a heave from 27 feet as
the shot clock expired -- to open a seven-point lead with 1:42 left
that was too much for the Knicks to overcome.
Bowen's 3-pointer with 35 seconds left -- his only field goal of
the game -- was the final blow.
Of the 100 previous best-of-seven series that have been tied
2-2, the team that won Game 5 has gone on to win the series 84
times. That strong statistic now favors the Heat, whose playoff
series with the Knicks went the distance in 1997, 1998 and 1999.
"We were looked at as a non-factor in this series,
outmatched," Mourning said. "Through the battles we have
persevered, each and every one of my teammates, and Timmy
(Hardaway) and Dan tonight made some very big plays for us that
made a difference in the outcome of the game."
Majerle shot 5-for-7 from the field with five rebounds, helping
Miami win the rebounding battle for the fifth straight game.
P.J. Brown grabbed seven offensive rebounds -- two more than all the Knicks combined, while Tim Hardaway played perhaps his best
game of the series with 12 points, four assists and just one
turnover.
Latrell Sprewell had 24 points to lead the Knicks, who got just
seven points from their reserves and could not find an offensive
rhythm all night.
"We played well offensively," Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy
said. "This team has to be committed to the importance of
rebounding. That has been the difference in the series. Take
everything else out and that's the deciding factor."
Chris Childs hit a 3-pointer to make it a three-point game with 14 seconds left, but Mashburn hit two from the free throw line,
Sprewell missed a 3-pointer and Majerle knocked down two more free
throws with seven seconds left to wrap it up.
The turning point came midway through the fourth quarter after
the Knicks had rallied to tie the score 68-68. Mashburn hit a
turnaround, Sprewell got trapped and threw the ball away and
Majerle converted a three-point play on the ensuing fast break to
make it 73-68.
Houston ended a three-minute scoring drought for the Knicks on a
jumper with 2:54 left, and with New York double-teaming Mourning in
the low post he found Majerle for a 3-pointer that made it 77-70
with 2:30 left.
Majerle then hit a 3-pointer from 27 feet as the 24-second clock
expired with 1:42 left. Brown jokingly called it a 50-footer, while
Mourning described it as coming from another area code.
"If the shot's there, I'm always going to shoot it whether I
make it or not," Majerle said. "I've got the confidence I can
make that shot instead of going to the floor. I can always make
that shot."
Mourning fouled out in the final minute, but his first
disqualification of the series didn't make much of a difference.
Nor did the Knicks' quick start.
Sprewell had three steals in the first 3½ minutes and hit his
first four shots and Mourning missed his first five, including a
baffling miss of a wide-open layup after he passed up an open
16-footer. The Knicks quickly took a 14-4 lead, but the Heat closed
to 22-19 by the end of the quarter as Ewing and Kurt Thomas each
picked up two fouls.
The Heat took their first lead of the night, 29-28, midway
through the second quarter on an 18-footer by Anthony Carter, and
Miami led 41-35 at the half after Mashburn went to the line for the
first time in three games and made both free throws with 12 seconds
left.
Hardaway, playing on a sprained left foot, had one of his best
stretches of the series early in the third quarter, converting a
three-point play and making a 3-pointer in a 12-4 run that gave
Miami an eight-point lead.
"He did the little things that the Tim of old used to do,"
Brown said. "It's good to see that again. There were times in this
game he took us on his back. If we get him to do that again Friday,
we've got a chance to win."
Miami's lead grew to nine points later in the quarter at the
expense of Houston, who threw away a no-look pass -- despite being
taken to task by Van Gundy for a similar error in Game 3 -- and then
got burned when Hardaway was isolated against him and blew around
him with a crossover dribble for a layup that made it 64-55.
It was 64-60 entering the fourth and 64-62 after Larry Johnson
completed a 7-0 run with a runner from the lane. Mourning picked up
his fifth foul with 7:36 left, and the Knicks quickly tied it at
66-all by scoring two quick baskets.
Game notes
Knicks center Chris Dudley saw his first action of the series, playing one second in the first quarter. ... The fans in the most expensive seats got on their feet and cheered when two
loud Knicks fans, one wearing a Marcus Camby jersey and the other a Johnson jersey, were ejected by police early in the second half. ... Hall of Fame center Bill Russell, who presented Mourning with
the Defensive Player of the Year award Tuesday, was in attendance.
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ALSO SEE
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New York Clubhouse
Miami Clubhouse
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What a blast! Knicks' plane blows over Van Gundy's car
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Jamal Mashburn takes it to the hoop.
avi: 573 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Clarence Weatherspoon drives the lane.
avi: 656 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
After the steal, Latrell Sprewell lays it in.
avi: 560 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
The Knicks move the ball to Spree for the jumper.
avi: 608 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Another strip and score for Sprewell.
avi: 577 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Shooting was a key factor tonight for Pat Riley and the Heat.
wav: 224 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Dan Majerle feels the team that executes will win the series.
wav: 168 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Coach Jeff Van Gundy was upset over the Knicks performance.
wav: 126 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Tim Hardaway and the Heat were looking to be more aggressive on defense.
wav: 97 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Offensive rebounds are a key factor for Allan Houston and the Knicks.
wav: 126 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
P.J. Brown was looking to contribute any way he could.
wav: 82 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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