Ewing Hurt in Practice : Olympics: Knick center dislocates thumb, will be out five days.

Patrick Ewing suffered a dislocated right thumb when he hit the rim in practice Thursday and is expected to miss the U.S. team’s first three games of the Olympic qualifying Tournament of the Americas.

The New York Knicks center also suffered a cut that required five stitches. He said doctors told him he will be out five days.

That means he’ll miss games against Cuba on Sunday, Canada on Monday and Panama on Tuesday. The top four teams in the 10-team tournament, to begin Saturday at Portland, Ore., will advance to Barcelona.

The injury occurred about halfway through the two-hour practice at UC San Diego. Ewing was taken to a hospital for X-rays, which were negative.

“I was on a fast break and Magic threw me a pass and I went up for a layup,” Ewing said. “I think it was Karl who came from behind and went for the block and got a piece of my hand and I hit it on the rim.

“If I had dunked it, it wouldn’t have happened,” Ewing said.

Ewing said he’d be able to do aerobic workouts but no scrimmaging during the next five days.

Although he’s wearing a splint, he was able to gingerly sign an autograph for one of the international referees working the team’s training camp.

Because center David Robinson is coming off surgery on his left thumb in late March, Coach Chuck Daly said he would move Karl Malone to center and also rely on Christian Laettner, who has been playing both forward and center.

“Now we’ve got a right-handed shooting center and a left-handed shooting center and both have problems with the thumbs on their shooting hands,” Daly said.

Robinson has said his thumb is fine, but is wearing a protective splint.

Also Thursday, the Olympians beat a team of college stars in two scrimmages. The collegians had beaten the Olympians 62-54 in a controlled, 20-minute scrimmage on Wednesday.

The Olympians wrapped up the practice session by winning a 10-minute scrimmage, 30-17. During the last few minutes, Memphis State’s Anfernee Hardaway blocked a shot by Clyde Drexler, and Michigan’s Chris Webber stripped Larry Bird on an inbounds play and went in for a slam dunk.

Duke star Bobby Hurley said the teams also played a 20-minute scrimmage, with the Olympians winning 72-39. Practices are closed except for the last 15 minutes, when reporters are allowed into the gym.

“I think it was a one-shot deal, pretty much,” Hurley said of Wednesday’s scrimmage. “We just played exceptionally well and I think it took a little bit of time for those guys to get into the flow of things. We had some really good moments yesterday, but today they really showed us up. They showed that they’re the best. They picked up their defense two notches and made it real difficult for us.

“Today they did more subbing, just throwing guys in and out,” Hurley said. “Wednesday it was more like they put groups out on the floor and switched them around a little.”