Knicks Defeat Heat, 89-83, and Rivalry Is Rekindled

Once again, P.J. Brown was at the center of another Knicks-and-Heat brouhaha. And this time, all he did was walk onto the floor.

Larry Johnson scored a season-high 35 points and the New York Knicks won the latest installment of their intense rivalry with Miami, defeating the Heat, 89-83, at New York on Sunday.

Johnson, ejected from New York’s previous game, scored nine consecutive points early in the fourth quarter as the Knicks halted a three-game losing streak.

The rivalry has become one of the fiercest in the NBA, and Sunday’s game was no exception, with ferocious defense and a scuffle.

“Any time the Heat and Knicks play you know it’s going to be a war,” said New York’s Allan Houston. “You can’t expect a fight, but you know it’s going to be a war.”

There were no incidents last week when the teams met for the first time since their fiery playoff series last spring. But in the second quarter Sunday, tempers flared when Miami’s Alonzo Mourning clobbered Johnson on a drive.

As Johnson was going in for a layup, Mourning delivered a hard foul, wrapping his arms around the New York forward’s head. Johnson responded with a two-hand shove to Mourning’s chest as players from both teams grabbed jerseys and trash-talked in front of New York’s bench.

But unlike Game 5 of the second-round series last year when several Knicks were suspended for rushing onto the floor to aid Charlie Ward, who had been body slammed by Brown, no New York players strayed from the sideline.

However, Brown, who was waiting at the scorer’s table to check in, innocently strolled onto the floor. NBA rules stipulate that any player who comes on the court during a skirmish receives an automatic one-game suspension.

NBA vice-president Rod Thorn, who attended the game, will likely review tapes of the incident to determine if Brown was guilty.

Mourning was called for a flagrant foul, and was assessed a technical foul along with teammate Isaac Austin, Johnson and New York’s Charles Oakley. There were no ejections.

Seattle 97, New Jersey 87--Vin Baker scored 24 points and Detlef Schrempf had 20 points and 13 rebounds for the SuperSonics at Seattle.

Gary Payton had 14 points and 14 assists, and the SuperSonics, improving their NBA-best record to 36-10, won for the 19th time in 21 games at home.

Seattle outscored the Nets, 17-9, in the final 4:41 after New Jersey cut the SuperSonic lead to two points twice in the fourth quarter.

Rookie Keith Van Horn and Jason Williams each had 17 points for the Nets.

Boston 107, Houston 96--Antoine Walker posted his first triple-double of the season and Dana Barros scored a season-high 23 points to lead the Celtics over the Rockets at Boston.

After the Rockets rallied from a 16-point third-quarter deficit, the Celtics scored 10 consecutive points midway through the fourth quarter and took a 90-81 lead on Travis Knight’s reverse layin.

Walker finished with 27 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for his third career triple-double. Knight, who had averaged only 4.7 points in his last 16 games, equaled his season-high with 21.

Utah 115, Golden State 88--Karl Malone scored 20 points and moved into sixth place on the all-time scoring list to lead the Jazz past the Warriors at Oakland.

Even while playing only 29 minutes, Malone came within one assist and two rebounds of a triple-double. His nine assists were a season high.

Malone entered the game seven points behind Oscar Robertson’s total of 26,710, and he passed him by making the first of two free throws with 5:22 remaining in the first quarter. Next up is Elvin Hayes, who scored 27,313.

San Antonio 103, Sacramento 97--David Robinson scored 33 points and grabbed and 18 rebounds, and the Spurs used a late 9-0 run to roll past the Kings at Sacramento.

The victory was the fourth in a row for the Spurs, which had double-doubles from its entire front line. Rookie Tim Duncan had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Will Perdue had 10 points and 14 boards.

Mitch Richmond scored 27 of his 31 points in the second half, including 10 in a row in one fourth-quarter stretch for the Kings. Corliss Williamson added 21 points before fouling out.

Portland 97, Toronto 90--Isaiah Rider scored a season-high 38 points as the Trail Blazers broke out of their homecourt doldrums with a 97-90 victory over the Raptors at Portland, Ore.

Rider, who has scored 30 points or more five times this season, has 67 points in his last two games. Rasheed Wallace added 17 points and 11 rebounds for Portland.

The Blazers had lost consecutive games on their home court, where they are 13-10 this season.

Damon Stoudamire led the Raptors with 21 points.

Milwaukee 118, Minnesota 110--Glenn Robinson scored 29 points and Terrell Brandon had 22 and 12 assists as the Bucks erased a 17-point deficit with strong second-half shooting at Minneapolis.

Ray Allen added 17 points for the Bucks, who extended their winning streak to five games, their longest since they won eight straight in 1990-91.

The Bucks shot 70.2% from the field and outscored Minnesota, 71-50, in the second half.

Kevin Garnett had 26 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Timberwolves, who played without starters Tom Gugliotta and Chris Carr.