COMMENTARY : Ewing Aches for Another Title Shot

He says they were three minutes away from the title in Game 7. It seemed even closer than that for Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks, because of all the chances to win at the end of Game 6, the last chance coming on one last shot from John Starks at the buzzer. The Knicks were down two points. Starks took his long shot from the left side. It would have been worth three points and the title. Hakeem Olajuwon got the smallest piece of the ball, which never got near the basket. The Rockets and Knicks went to Game 7 and finally the Knicks were down, 78-75, three minutes to play. “My turn,” Ewing had said before the playoffs. “My time.” Time ran out for him, three minutes from the title.

Now the Knicks are ready to try again. But they are not three minutes away anymore. The Knicks are nine months away, more than 100 games away, if they last that long.

“This time we’ve got to find a way to finish the job,” Ewing said this week. “I just know that we’ve got to finally find a way to finish the job.”

Everyone around the Knicks took the loss to the Rockets hard. No one took it harder than Ewing, who was so sure he was ready to finish the job last June. Twice he went to The Summit in Houston, for Games 6 and 7, knowing the championship trophy was in the house.

“I still haven’t gotten over it,” Ewing said quietly. “I’m not sure you ever get over it. I’m ready to move on now, try again. But you don’t get over it.”

Ewing stopped for one more small beat and said, “I was heartbroken.”

He talked then about the surgery on his right knee after the season was finally over. There was a trip to Africa with Dikembe Mutombo, the Denver Nuggets’ center, and Alonzo Mourning of the Charlotte Hornets. They all played for Coach John Thompson at Georgetown, and have remained close friends. Even when Ewing tried to shake the finals, Mutombo and Mourning--both of whom would show up occasionally to cheer Ewing’s run at the title--would not let him forget.

“They kept blaming me for their summer being too short,” Ewing said. “It was short for me, too, in the sense that I didn’t have enough time for my knee to heal completely. But other than that, it was the longest summer of my whole life. I felt like I’d worked so hard. We’d all worked so hard. Then we couldn’t finish them. I don’t just think about Game 6, Game 7. I even think about (Sam) Cassell making that (three-point) shot at the end of Game 3.

“Now I’ve got to believe this is the year when all the work pays off. I still believe our day is coming. The Knicks deserve to win a championship. New York deserves to get another championship in basketball. I want to be here when it happens.”

He is 32 years old. His knees must feel three times that. He talks about going forever, playing as long as Robert Parish. He says he is too young to even think about retiring. His effort last season, even when he missed his shots, made Madison Square Garden come to him in a way it never had before. He was no more worthy of a title than the great Olajuwon. But he was as worthy. Now Ewing, a champion without portfolio, gathers himself for another run.

“I’m not making any guarantees,” Ewing said. “It’s too early to make predictions. There’s too much talent on Houston still, and Phoenix, and Indiana. There’s a lot of teams. The only thing I’m going to say is this: I want to redeem myself.”