Associated Press NEW YORK -- The little guys did all the little things right for the New York Knicks.
With 7-foot center Patrick Ewing out from the start with a right foot injury, and 6-11 Marcus Camby injured in the second quarter, the Knicks needed every last one of those hustle plays from their smaller players to beat the Indiana Pacers 98-95 on Saturday in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals. New York cut its deficit in the best-of-seven series to 2-1, with Game 4 at Madison Square Garden on Monday. "We knew it was going to be tough without our two centers. But we had everybody come in and do their part," said Latrell Sprewell, who had a game-high 32 points. Ewing, injured in Thursday's Game 3, did his best Spike Lee imitation, waving an orange towel and yelling encouragement to his teammates from the bench. Camby sprained his right knee when the leg buckled under him as he drove along the right side of the lane with 8:49 left in the first half. Without their two leading rebounders (Ewing had been averaging 9.5, Camby 8.8 in the playoffs) and with little inside presence, the Knicks turned into a run-and-fun team, looking for fast-break opportunities whenever possible. Coach Jeff Van Gundy looked like a baseball third-base coach waving his runners home, windmilling his arms to indicate he wanted the Knicks to push the ball upcourt. It helped that Sprewell, all of 6-5, took over at the offensive end. The middle was open for him and he took advantage, mixing a series of slashes to the basket with an array of outside shots. The 6-6 Houston scored 28. Ward was everywhere, particularly in the second half. "He did a lot of good things, got his hands on a lot of loose balls," Van Gundy said. "He found ways to get the ball at the basket. He really stepped forward." The point guard sparked a 26-15 Knicks run in the third quarter that turned a two-point deficit for New York into a 71-62 lead. He had eight points and four assists in the spurt, and finished with 14 points and nine assists. Childs had four points, two assists, a block and four rebounds -- all at the defensive end. Ward also came up with three steals during that Knicks outburst, part of 17 Pacers turnovers that New York converted into 18 points. Indiana had been averaging eight turnovers in the playoffs. Ward, who won the 1993 Heisman Trophy at Florida State but was considered too short to be an NFL quarterback, smacked away the shot by Smits, who is 14 inches taller, with less than a minute to go in the third quarter. "It was kind of funny," Ward said. "If a guy didn't jump and he is 7-foot-4 he becomes as small as you are." It was part of a rough second half for Smits, the lanky Dutchman who burned the shorter Knicks for 21 points in the first half -- but finished the game with 25. "I just saw Charlie jump," Houston said. "He looked like he was jumping over a car or something." Not quite, but Ward certainly helped steer the Knicks to a must-have victory.
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