Knicks’ Victory Comes Without Fight

Knicks, by knockout.

New York took control early, withstood all the fight the Heat had left and knocked Miami out of the playoffs with a 98-81 victory Sunday in Game 5 of their first-round series.

“It was like a heavyweight championship fight,” the Knicks’ John Starks said. “The guys who hit hardest win, and we did a good job of hitting them first.”

And hitting them last.

New York withstood a 21-3 run that turned a 20-point lead into a two-point game with 7:16 remaining in the fourth, answering with a 19-7 run that left Heat fans heading to the exits before the clock ticked inside two minutes.

The Knicks advanced to the conference semifinals and will play the Pacers beginning Tuesday night at Indiana.

The victory was made easier by the absence of Miami’s Alonzo Mourning, who was suspended along with New York’s Larry Johnson and Chris Mills for a fight at the end of Game 4.

Allan Houston scored 30 points, Starks scored 22, Charles Oakley had 18 and Charlie Ward made a crucial three-point shot that killed Miami’s rally.

Ward also had 14 assists and five steals, and Buck Williams had 12 points and 14 rebounds as New York took advantage of Mourning’s absence to dominate inside. Miami was outrebounded, 43-34.

“It was a great win, one of many more to come,” the Knicks’ Terry Cummings said.

Compared to earlier games, this one was tame. There was only one flagrant foul, one technical foul and none of the slit-throat gesturing and fisticuffs of the other games.

This was the first time in NBA history a seventh-seeded Eastern Conference team beat a No. 2-seeded team. It has happened three times in the West.