Knicks Stay Cool, but Bulls Fry in New York’s Pressure Cooker

Before the Eastern Conference semifinal between the Knicks and Bulls, columnist Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times said the pressure to win would be on New York, not Chicago.

“All the baggage and stress and civic demands have been dropped in the lap of the Knicks,” Mariotti wrote. “They are the ones who have to win.

“Their coach, the obsessed Pat Riley, has worn it on his face all season. In turn, so have the players, who must endure the textbook mental torture of Riley and sometimes get very sick of it.”

Pressure? The Bulls squandered a 15-point lead in losing to the Knicks on Sunday.

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Trivia time: Who was the oldest winner of a PGA Tour event?

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Rubbing it in: Denver’s Dikembe Mutombo after the Nuggets upset Seattle in overtime Saturday to win the NBA first-round playoff series:

“Now I know why they want to take the Super out of the Sonics.”

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Stone age? Phil Collier in the San Diego Union-Tribune: “(Cincinnati) Reds’ catcher Joe Oliver probably wouldn’t endorse President Clinton’s health-care plan, not after visiting a Montreal hospital recently for X-rays:

“I got a look a socialized medicine. If that’s the future, I want no part of it. I felt like Fred Flintstone. I expected a woodpecker would peck out the X-ray.”

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Shaquille who? After Indiana eliminated Orlando from the NBA playoffs, Eddie Sefko of the Houston Chronicle wrote:

“O’Neal--the so-called future of the NBA--proved to be nothing more than just another Rik Smits (of the Pacers) in the playoffs. Actually that’s not true. Smits is still playing.”

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Add Orlando: Anfernee Hardaway, the Magic’s rookie point guard, told the Sporting News that other NBA teams are jealous of the television exposure his team has had this season. “We’re out to make an identity for this franchise,” Hardaway said. “If (other teams) think we’re cocky now, wait until next year. We’re only going to get better.”

We’re waiting.

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True politician: Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Boxer Roberto Duran, campaigning for the Panamanian legislature, has a platform that seems a little vague:

“ ‘Whatever the people want.’ ”

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Looking back: On this day in 1934, Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees played five innings before removing himself from a game against the Chicago White Sox because of illness.

By that time, he had two home runs and two doubles for seven RBIs.

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Trivia answer: Sam Snead was 52 years and 10 months old when he won the Greater Greensboro Open in 1965.

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Quotebook: Chicago Cub Manager Tom Trebelhorn on his team’s dismal start: “This could be likened to a masochistic daydream or waiting for a root canal. It’s not a lot of fun.”