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Knicks nip Heat amid usual chaos

©Associated Press

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 5, 2001

MIAMI -- New York guard Latrell Sprewell leaned back, and with a smile he summed up Sunday's Knicks-Heat game in one sentence: "This was about the way it was supposed to go."

The game featured a close finish, a celebrity ejection and a near-bench-clearing altercation. Pretty typical stuff for Knicks-Heat.

But Glen Rice, who has played much of the season with a sore left foot, made the difference. Rice scored 29 as the New York beat Miami 103-100 in a wild overtime game.

Rice, who began his career with Miami, hit 10 of 15 shots and made all four three-pointers and all five free throws.

"He made the game look easy today," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "He is a great player. We didn't forget about him."

For the Heat, the game came down to missed opportunities.

Eddie Jones missed a pair of free throws in the final minute of regulation, Bruce Bowen missed the first of two free throws that could have tied the score in overtime and Eddie House missed an open three-pointer from the corner as time expired.

"We came up short," Riley said. "We had great opportunities to close it out. It was a tough way to lose."

It had plenty of excitement, though.

Referee Joe Forte ejected singer Jimmy Buffett from his seat along the baseline in the fourth quarter.

Anthony Mason and Larry Johnson almost followed Buffett in overtime. With less than a minute left, Mason bumped Johnson as they were running across the court, and Johnson grabbed Mason's jersey.

Words were exchanged, double technicals were called and Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy again was in the middle, trying to break things up. No punches were thrown and both players stayed in the game.

Mason finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Last month, Van Gundy required several stitches around an eye after he was struck by the Knicks' Marcus Camby, who was swinging at San Antonio's Danny Ferry.

In the 1998 playoffs, Van Gundy grabbed Alonzo Mourning's leg during a bench-clearing fight that resulted in several players being suspended.

"It's fun being part of this," New York's Allan Houston said. "I don't see how people could watch. I was sitting there pulling my hair out."

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