Sports: Mourning gets Knicks' attention

Mourning gets Knicks' attention

By DARRELL FRY

MIAMI -- Coming into Game 5, Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy was especially focused on Heat center Alonzo Mourning, who averaged 23.3 points in the four previous games and had 27 in New York's 91-83 win in Game 4.

"He's killing us," Van Gundy said. "In an 80-point game, he's scoring 27. That's like a third of their points. And we are paying attention to him. That's the bad part."

The Knicks befuddled Mourning early, keeping him out of the Heat's offensive flow. And when he did get into the action, he didn't fare well. He missed his first five shots. His first field goal came with 1:14 left in the first quarter. After going 1 of 6 from the floor in the first, he was 2 of 10 at the half for 10 points.

NO JUSTICE: Knicks forward Latrell Sprewell was more than a casual observer of the Bobby Knight turmoil at Indiana. Sprewell, who was suspended for 68 games and lost a reported $6.4-million in salary for his infamous choking of coach P.J. Carlesimo, thought Knight got off easy with a three-game suspension and a $30,000 fine for choking Neil Reed, among other offenses.

"If everyone wants to be so hard on me, and it was so outrageous, then I feel like they should have dealt with him a little stricter and a little harder," Sprewell said.

"When it happened with me, it was the end of the world ... It was like I was the worst person in the world with my incident. Then to have it turn around and be just the opposite on the collegiate level; it's bad, what can I say? It's a double standard, but life isn't fair."

STAT OF THE DAY: Wednesday's Game 5 could prove to be crucial. In the 100 previous best-of-seven playoff series that were tied at 2, the team that won Game 5, in this case the Heat, went on to win the series 84 times.

GETTING DEFENSIVE: Mourning was given the league's defensive player of the year trophy during pregame introductions. Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell, arguably the greatest defensive player in league history, presented the trophy to Mourning at center court.

JUST GLAD TO BE HERE: Knicks center Chris Dudley saw his first action of this series and he has Mourning to thank. Starter Patrick Ewing and backup Kurt Thomas picked up two fouls apiece guarding Mourning in the first quarter, forcing Van Gundy to call on Dudley. He played .07 of a second before being replaced by Larry Johnson.