This Is One Show New York Can’t Steal

I don’t think we’re in fantasyland anymore, Toto.

That “destiny” the New York Knicks were talking about took on a somber note Wednesday night when they stepped off their cloud and found themselves eyeball to bellybutton with the San Antonio Spurs, who proceeded to reach over them, shoot over them, lob over them and win over them, 89-77, in the opener of the NBA finals.

In case you missed the point, the operative word was “over.” The Knicks started four players 6 feet 6 and under. The worst problem Tim Duncan had, while making 13 of 21 shots, scoring 33 points, taking 16 rebounds and blocking two shots, was making sure he didn’t trip over the little guys.

“What can you say?” said the Knicks’ Latrell Sprewell of Duncan and David Robinson. “Those guys are talented. They’re huge. They play well together. It wasn’t easy.”

If the Knicks thought belief was going to see them through this one, they’d better concentrate harder, but they can be forgiven for losing their bearings, considering Manhattan had been fairly levitating since they capped their miracle playoff run by finishing off the Indiana Pacers.

All the tough guys in that tough newspaper town have been fairly swooning. Sprewell and Allan Houston have been compared to Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe. Marcus Camby, it was written, blocked shots “like a young Bill Russell.” The New York Post’s Wallace Matthews wrote a piece headlined: “Why the Knicks Will Win.” The Post’s Peter Vecsey said they were “destined” to win. The New York Daily News’ Mike Lupica called Camby “the best reason the Knicks are going to win it all.”

Even the august New York Times ran a front-page box, headlined “Believe yet?”

It concluded: “It’s a Cinderella story, the latest phase of the New York renaissance. Crime down, tourism up, Knicks sizzling.”

Then there was the old conspiracy theory: The league was going to be dying for a prolonged series so the referees would be piling up fouls on the Spurs, as fast as they supposedly did on the Pacers.

Let’s just put it this way. If the Game 1 referees had turned out to be David Stern, Russ Granik and Rod Thorn, one might have become suspicious. However, it turned out to be Steve Javie, Bennett Salvatore and Hugh Evans. This was just a basketball game, not an exercise in faith or destiny.

And the Knicks were overmatched.

They’re not in against Rik Smits and his sore feet anymore. They don’t have Patrick Ewing. They barely have Larry Johnson, who played bravely on his sore knee but scored five points with one rebound in 21 minutes. His coach, Jeff Van Gundy, called it “a good effort,” which shows how desperate he is.

Desperation, thy initials are JVG. With Sprewell starting, the 6-5 Johnson has to guard one of the Spurs’ 7-footers. Van Gundy started him on Robinson, but David kept zipping past him and picking up personal fouls. Then Van Gundy tried putting LJ on Duncan, who just shot over him as if he were a traffic cone.

Noted Duncan later: “He’s a little shorter than I am. I thought I could get some shots over him.”

Here’s more bad news for the Knicks. This was their big opportunity to steal one here. The Spurs had been off for nine days and were rusty. Duncan said he and several teammates got winded in the first quarter. And Sprewell, who is up and down, played one of his good games--19 points, seven rebounds--and they wasted it.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Sprewell said. “That team had the best record in the league this year. They’re playing well. They’ve had an excellent playoff run and they’re good. We knew we had an uphill climb here.”

Late Wednesday night, someone asked Van Gundy if he was thinking of putting Camby in the starting lineup, on the assumption that a “young Bill Russell” would come in handy since they have an extra 7-footer to guard.

Said Van Gundy: “I’m going to just sit there tonight and think.”

John Wooden, Dr. James Naismith and Einstein together might not be able to think their way out of this one. Let’s just hope crime is still down and tourism is still up and this doesn’t set that New York renaissance back too much.