Spree of Charge, Here’s Advice to Get Knicks’ Offense Going

Here’s a surprise: Spree has a better idea.

With his New York Knicks down 2-0 in the NBA finals, averaging 72 points a game and clearly at the what-have-we-got-to-lose point, Latrell Sprewell is recommending a lineup change that will put him in the backcourt with Allan Houston (who’ll presumably act as the point guard, since he does occasionally pass), with Larry Johnson moving to small forward and Marcus Camby starting at power forward.

“LJ will be able to post up Sean Elliott,” Sprewell suggested, “and we’ll make Avery [Johnson, who is 5 feet 10] guard one of us.”

Says Coach Jeff Van Gundy: “I’m not sure it’s anything about the lineup right now. I think it’s more about we have to have our three main guys where we are right now be more efficient and get some unexpected scoring, as we did the other night from Kurt [Thomas]. . . .

“It’s not about being home or on the road. They haven’t lost on the road this this year in the playoffs. We have to play to our peak efficiency-wise, we really do.”

Translation: The Knicks have to defend great and shoot great. Otherwise, it’ll be summertime by mid-week.

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Early in his career, San Antonio’s David Robinson gained a reputation for being a soft player who disappeared when play got rough. Even though Robinson has denied that he’s out to show his critics wrong, he has been more physical throughout the playoffs.

“Sometimes, in the last three minutes of the game in past years, we tended to withdraw, not to get low-post position, not to make aggressive moves,” San Antonio point guard Johnson said. “Dave tended not to use his elbows as much as he does this year.”

Robinson has also used his size on the defensive end as he and fellow 7-footer Tim Duncan have intimidated New York in the first two games.

In the series, Robinson has blocked eight shots and Duncan has added six more.

“To a certain extent, [the Knicks] are thinking about it, no question,” Robinson said about New York’s offensive problems around the basket. “Coming to the hole. We’ve blocked a lot of shots in there. . . . I’m in there trying to block shots, make things happen. [The Knicks] understand it’s not going to be easy to get to the rim.”

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In both games, the outmanned Knicks have hung close for at least a half, and wilted in the fourth quarters. Robinson thinks they’re wearing down.

“Especially tonight, you could see it,” he said after Friday’s Game 2. “They made some mistakes, dribbling off their foot or trying to make something happen, or the one time Camby made a move in the lane and threw it on top of the backboard. You can see those type of things starting to take effect after a long game.

“Like I said, I’ve been preaching to the guys, just keep putting the steady pressure on them.”

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Where’s that third option Van Gundy keeps talking about?

Johnson, playing on a sore right knee against 7-footers who are playing badminton with his shots when he posts up, has scored 10 points in the series, while shooting five for 15.

“Everybody talks about how they’re better without Patrick [Ewing],” the Spurs’ Mario Elie said. “Now they know. They need the big fellow in the middle to drive and hit some jumpers, to get our guys in foul trouble.”

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It’s no secret that the book on defeating San Antonio is to make Johnson become a scorer. Johnson, however, has been making teams pay during the playoffs by shooting nearly 48% from the field in averaging 13 points over 14 games.

In two games against New York, Johnson has made only four shots in 11 attempts but two of them have been with his right hand, which has caught the Knicks off guard.

At the end of the first quarter in Game 2, New York played Johnson to his left on a length-of-the-court drive, forcing him to launch a running right-handed hook that hit nothing but net.

“I haven’t used that much this year,” Johnson said with a chuckle. “That was a summer-league move.”

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Elie is looking forward to playing the Knicks in New York for at least the next two games. Elie is the lone New York native on the Spurs and he has fond memories of when he played for Houston against the Knicks in the 1994 finals.

“I’m going back to my hometown,” said Elie, who will turn 36 in November. “I’m looking forward to seeing my mom and all my old friends in my neighborhood. When we played in the series in ‘94, I stayed at my mom’s house and rode the subway to the games. It was a lot of fun.”

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Overconfidence does not seem to be a problem with the Spurs, despite the ease in which they have won an NBA one-season playoff record of 13 consecutive games.

“The talk [of San Antonio’s third sweep in a row] will be there because of what’s happened in the last two rounds,” Spur Coach Gregg Popovich said. “But sweep is not something that ever went through our minds in L.A. or Portland. . . . It was the furthest thing from our minds. We try to play with an appropriate amount of fear, if that makes any sense, so that won’t happen.”

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San Antonio did not practice Saturday, but it’s not as if the Spurs need extra workout time. They have won 13 of 14 games in the playoffs and since March 1, they are 44-6. San Antonio’s last road defeat was an overtime loss at Sacramento on April 27.

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Spurs lead best-of-seven series, 2-0

* Game 1: San Antonio 89, New York 77

* Game 2: San Antonio 80, New York 67

* Game 3: Monday at New York, 6 p.m.

* Game 4: Wednesday at New York, 6 p.m.

* Game 5: Friday at New York, 6 p.m.*

* Game 6: June 27 at San Antonio, 4:30 p.m.*

* Game 7: June 29 at San Antonio, 6 p.m.*

TV: Ch. 4, all times Pacific; * If necessary