Grant Beats Knicks at Buzzer : Pro basketball: His jump shot from the baseline gives Clippers a 98-97 victory in overtime.

Clipper guard Gary Grant got mugged Saturday in New York.

A bunch of guys in red shorts jumped him in broad daylight, with one or two others in suits standing nearby waving their arms. The mob had Grant surrounded, and he kept getting smacked on the back, grabbed into bearhugs and shaken by the shoulders.

So why didn’t he seem to mind?

Because this was a celebration, the spontaneous reaction to Grant making an 18-foot jump shot along the right baseline at the buzzer in overtime to give the Clippers a 98-97 victory over the New York Knicks.

A crowd of 19,763 at Madison Square Garden were witnesses. The Knicks, losers at home for only the second time in 15 games, will corroborate. Not gladly, though.

“You can’t label that as something they wanted to try,” said Charles Smith, a former Clipper. “But it was a good shot. He made it. What can you say?”

Plenty, actually. Start with the notion of the Clippers sweeping the two-game season series from the Knicks for the first time since 1985-86 and winning here for the first time since Feb. 23, 1986. Then mention Ron Harper finishing with 20 points, 13 rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals, and Danny Manning getting 16 points and 13 rebounds. Add in the Clippers scoring on six of nine overtime possessions against the NBA’s No. 1 defense.

Opening a six-game Eastern Conference trip, their longest of the season, the Clippers could have won in regulation, even after New York’s Rolando Blackman made a desperation three-pointer with 2.9 seconds to play for an 86-86 tie.

It looked as if the Clippers would avoid overtime when Jackson blew past Greg Anthony down the right side. But the running five-footer Jackson lofted bounced off the rim.

In overtime, the Clippers took a 94-91 lead with two minutes to play. Two free throws by Jackson gave the Clippers a 96-93 lead with 59 seconds to play. But the Knicks scored on their next two possessions, capped by Patrick Ewing’s basket with 15.6 seconds left, for a 97-96 lead, their first of the overtime.

The Clippers decided not to call their final timeout, denying the Knicks a chance for a defensive substitution, and pushed ahead for the victory. John Williams started the successful chain of events in motion by drawing the defense to him.

“I knew there wasn’t too much time when I got the ball, just a couple of seconds,” said Williams, who also made a key defensive play near the end of regulation by stripping the ball from Ewing as the Knick center was about to shoot. “I didn’t want to pull up for the jumper, because I thought I could break (Ewing) down and pass off.”

Williams did. Grant got the ball with about two seconds to play and no one close enough to even put a hand in his face. The shot went up.

Before it came down, he said, “Let’s go home.”

Then it swished as the horn sounded.

“I was real open,” Grant said. “I had time to get a good look at the basket and to set my feet.

“I knew it was on line. I was just hoping it went in. When it went in, it felt like a new world. I saw everyone jumping around, but I didn’t hear anything.”

The crowd noise went from screams to sudden silence. The Clippers, players and coaches, went to mob Grant.

“I was getting hit all over,” he said. “But when you’re that happy and excited, you can’t feel it.”

Clipper Notes

Mark Jackson called his return to Madison Square Garden for the first time since being traded from the Knicks to the Clippers an emotional homecoming. He got a nice ovation during introductions, then had 18 points, eight assists and three steals. “It was a lot of fun,” said Jackson, a lifetime New York resident. “Just a great game overall.” . . . The Charlotte Hornets are the only other team to beat the Knicks at home, having also done it in overtime.

Doc Rivers, who was expected back, sat out his third consecutive game because of a partially dislocated right shoulder. Bo Kimble, the other former Clipper guard playing for New York, said he is healthy enough to come off the injured list after being sidelined since Nov. 15 because of bursitis in the right hip. . . . Kiki Vandeweghe started in place of Ken Norman for the Clippers, a move by Coach Larry Brown to commemorate Vandeweghe’s days with the Knicks.

* MAGICAL DEFENSE

Dennis Rodman of Detroit holds Shaquille O’Neal without a field goal in the final 15 minutes of the Pistons’ 98-97 victory at Orlando. C9