LOS ANGELES -- A Subway World Series. The Giants in the Super Bowl. The Knicks in the NBA Finals?

	Marcus Camby has given the Knicks good production at center this year.

That last one isn't impossible.

Nearing the halfway point of the NBA season, the Knicks have every right to think they can get back to the championship round for the second time in the last three seasons.

We're only talking about the East, right?

Who's to think they're not dreaming the same dream in Philly, Miami, Toronto, Milwaukee and Charlotte?

"I look around our locker room," Anthony Mason said after the Heat throttled the Lakers Sunday, "and we've got a lot of talent in here, maybe as much talent as anybody. We just don't have height."

Ah, there's that word again.

	LaFrentz

	Mutombo

No one in the East has a dominant big man, including the Knicks. It's why GM Scott Layden is still working the phones, trying to land a big man. The Knicks have talked to the Hawks about Dikembe Mutombo, with Atlanta saying they're keeping Mutombo for the rest of the season, but will move him in the summer. The Knicks also have tried to get Denver's Raef LaFrentz, without success.

New York isn't the only Eastern team trying to get bigger before the Feb. 22 trading deadline. Miami has its eyes on Hakeem Olajuwon -- for the very same reason the Knicks know their current roster isn't big enough to win it all. And in New York, that's all that matters. They haven't hung a championship banner in nearly 30 years and real Knick fans are getting antsy.

Whatever team wins the East won't measure up against the West's dominant frontcourt players. Remember how the Knicks had no answer for Tim Duncan and David Robinson in 1999? Or how the Pacers were in over their heads against Shaq? Well, the same thing is going to happen this June, too.

"You have to look at the size the best teams in the West have and the difference in the talent level, so, yeah, it's fair," said Pat Riley, referring to the way the East gets slighted in all East-West comparisons. "But that won't be decided until June, right?

	Johnson

	Thomas

The Knicks could live to see that month, even without Patrick Ewing. They've never really replaced him, in terms of finding a dominant low-post player who commands double teams. But Marcus Camby has had a very good season, rebounding and blocking shots. Kurt Thomas, at times, gives them the hustle and interior presence on the offensive glass that Charles Oakley used to. Larry Johnson's defense against post players, including Rasheed Wallace and Tim Duncan, is vastly underrated.

The defensive dragnet masterminded by Jeff Van Gundy makes it all work. Gushed one Eastern Conference GM: "Van Gundy's been their All-Star this season. What I like about the guy, besides his coaching, is that he's a realist."

No, Van Gundy never sugar-coats the truth. He realizes he's got a flawed team that has to stick to the basics in order to have a chance to win.

"When we defend and we rebound and we play hard and we make our jump shots,, we can beat a lot of teams," he was saying the other day. "And when we don't make our jump shots, like what happened against Portland, we can still win games with our defense and our rebounding."

So far, with their top-ranked defense in two categories (opponents' ppg and FG percentage), they've swept the Spurs, blitzed the Trail Blazers in New York, hammered the Sixers in Philly, won in Minnesota and defeated the Suns in Phoenix.

Entering Tuesday's game in Milwaukee, they've held a record 33 straight opponents under 100 points. With the Bucks winning 21 of their past 27 games and featuring one of the top offenses, Van Gundy likely will have to go back to his standard pre-game speech in the Bradley Center.

"The two hardest things to get players to do today is to pass the ball and play defense," he said. "I've got to harp on those two things all the time. If you get your guys to pass the ball and get them to play defense, you'll have a chance."

The Knicks always have a chance because they also take only about 75 shots a night, among the fewest shot-per-game averages in the league.

"They really value every possession," said Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich, whose team, along with Indiana, are the only two to defeat the Knicks in the last 11 games. "That guarantees you that you're going to be in every game. But it also limits the opportunities for the other guy."

It can make for sloooooow-paced games that'll put you to sleep, but there's a beauty to it, too.

"The thing about the Knicks," Rudy T added, "is that they're tough."

Tough enough to be another New York team playing for a championship.

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