Knicks Plan Protest of Controversial Loss

The outraged New York Knicks stormed en masse toward the officials. The Miami Heat celebrated and claimed they were saved by the buzzer.

The referees huddled, the outcome stood: Miami 82, New York 81.

The Atlantic Division rivals had another controversial meeting Sunday at Miami that left everyone asking three questions: Did Allan Houston’s shot beat the buzzer? Will the outcome stand? Rematch, anyone?

The answers: Yes. Maybe. Could be.

Houston’s last-second basket was waved off by the officials, who wrongly ruled that it came after the buzzer, and the Heat escaped with a victory that knocked the Knicks out of seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

Television replays indicated Houston released the shot with at least one-tenth of a second remaining.

The Knicks planned to file a protest today with NBA Commissioner David Stern.

“David will take all the evidence and make a ruling,” league spokesman Brian McIntyre said.

When referee Bob Delaney signaled the basket didn’t count, the Knicks charged toward him. Coach Jeff Van Gundy led the way, shouting in protest and then ripping off his coat.

“There was no doubt that the basket was good,” Van Gundy said. “As soon as it left Houston’s hands, I knew it was good. The ball went in with two-tenths of a second left.”

Said Heat guard Tim Hardaway: “Happy Easter, everybody.”

New York dropped a half-game behind New Jersey after the Nets beat the Raptors.

New Jersey 116, Toronto 109--Keith Van Horn scored 33 points, Kerry Kittles had 31 and the Nets played a perfect final three minutes at Toronto to move into seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

The Nets (42-36), winners of five in a row and seven of their last nine, moved one-half game ahead of the Knicks.

The Nets went five for five from the field and eight for eight from the line over the final three minutes.

Seattle 103, Houston 95--Hersey Hawkins scored 20 points, Detlef Schrempf had 16 points and a season-high 15 rebounds and the SuperSonics defeated the Rockets at Seattle in a possible first-round playoff preview.

Hawkins scored 16 points in the third period when the SuperSonics took the lead for good. Seattle (59-20) trails Utah (59-19) by one game in the loss column in the battle for best record in the West, with the winner likely to meet the Rockets in the first round.

Atlanta 91, Washington 81--Eldridge Recasner came off the bench to score 10 of his 17 points in the final period, and Steve Smith had 18 as the Hawks rallied from a 14-point deficit at Washington.

The Hawks, who have won five of seven and moved a half-game behind fourth-place Charlotte in the Eastern Conference, held the Wizards to two points over the final 6:33.

Washington is 0-3 since a sexual assault complaint was filed against Chris Webber and Juwan Howard.

Charlotte 88, Detroit 86--The Hornets kept alive their hopes for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs as Anthony Mason lifted them over the Pistons at Charlotte, N.C.

The fourth-place Hornets lead the Hawks by a half-game.

Mason matched his season high with 29 points and added 14 rebounds and four assists, helping Charlotte snap a four-game losing streak.

Phoenix 129, Vancouver 106--George McCloud scored a season-high 25 points at Vancouver, Canada as the Suns won their eighth in a row and moved into a tie with San Antonio for fourth place in the Western Conference.

Antonio McDyess had 23 points and seven rebounds as six Phoenix players reached double figures in scoring.

McCloud, who made a season-high 11 field goals and had eight rebounds, made his second consecutive start since taking over for Danny Manning, who suffered a season-ending knee injury Tuesday at Sacramento.

Indiana 93, Boston 87--Antonio Davis scored a season-high 28 points at Boston and Larry Bird’s Pacers ran their winning streak to four games.

The Pacers completed a sweep of the four-game season series.

Indiana (55-23) maintained its half-game lead over Miami (55-24).