The Supporting Cast Wins It for Knicks : NBA playoffs: McDaniel scores 24; Starks and Wilkins also play key roles in 93-86 victory over Bulls. Series is tied.

Frustrated by poor shooting and foul trouble, Patrick Ewing was not the same unstoppable force for the New York Knicks on Sunday that he was when they shocked the Chicago Bulls in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. No, the Knicks won Game 4 because the X-factor was huge.

Xavier McDaniel scored 24 points, grabbed seven rebounds and stood solid around the basket to lead the Knicks to a 93-86 victory in front of 19,763 at Madison Square Garden.

“X basically took over,” Knick Coach Pat Riley said of McDaniel’s seven points in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, points that McDaniel scored while Ewing was on the bench with four fouls. Those points gave the Knicks the lead for good and tied the best-of-seven series, 2-2, with Game 5 scheduled for Tuesday night at Chicago Stadium. Game 6 will be in New York Thursday night, and Game 7, if needed, will be in Chicago.

With each team having won and lost at home, the normally decisive home-court advantage often present in the NBA might be lessening.

“I always felt the fifth game was a big-time pressure game for the home team when it’s 2-2,” Riley said, not hesitating to heap more burden on the defending NBA champions.

Knick guard John Starks came off the bench to hurt the Bulls from long range, though it was his dunk that got them started in the fourth quarter. He finished with 16 points. Gerald Wilkins had 17, while Ewing (5 of 16) finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Chicago never seemed in sync. Michael Jordan finished with 29 points but only nine came in the second half when he made three of 11 shots. Scottie Pippen was four of 13 from the floor and five of 10 from the line for 13 points. Horace Grant also had 13 for Chicago.

Bull Coach Phil Jackson was ejected for getting his second technical foul with four seconds left in the third quarter and the Knicks took the lead for good with seven consecutive points at the start of the fourth quarter. New York pushed the lead to 84-75 with 4:37 left and though the Bulls got as close as 86-82, they never made it all the way back.

The Bulls were outmuscled on the boards, where the Knicks had a 52-33 edge. The Bulls’ dismal free-throw shooting (17 of 29, 58.6%) didn’t help either.

“They played extremely well,” said Jordan, who twisted his ankle slightly in the second half. “They played very aggressively, and we seemed to hold back a little bit. They beat us on the boards. That’s where we really lost the game.”

The Knicks made no bones about their intention to play as rough a game as possible. “If they let us play, it is to our advantage because Scottie and Michael and Horace are finesse players,” McDaniel said.

“If they are comfortable when they come flying through (the lane) it can be ugly,” said Anthony Mason, whose forearm met the side of Scott Williams’ head in an attempt to block a shot. “But it will be in the back of their minds that they might get hit.”

Jackson got his first technical less than three minutes into the game. “They were shoving our dribbler with two hands, and that is against the rules,” Jackson said. “That was football, not basketball. I’ve got to stand up for my guys.”

The Knicks said they lost Game 3 on Saturday because they failed to get the ball to Ewing down the stretch. Sunday, they got him the ball on the first two possessions, but there was only marginal success.

“I was just missing,” Ewing said. “A couple times I got fouled, but you can’t cry about it, and a couple of jump shots were a little out of my range. I need to get my head under the basket.”

Ewing hit two shots in the third quarter but then picked up his fourth foul with 5:29 left in the quarter. Riley took him out and left him on the bench until 6:59 was left in the fourth quarter.