Knicks Keep Moving On Up

To a chorus of nearly 20,000 people chanting Jeff Van Gundy’s name, the New York Knicks made it to the Eastern Conference finals Monday night--even if they didn’t necessarily save their coach’s job.

“I don’t think they’ve ever done that for any coach,” Patrick Ewing said after a full house at Madison Square Garden got up on its feet and voted with its collective voice while the Knicks were completing a 4-0 sweep of the Atlanta Hawks with a 79-66 victory.

“It was very kind of them, very nice. I appreciated it very much,” Van Gundy said after another day of politicking off the court and precision on it ended with New York’s first sweep of a seven-game series in 30 years.

As they did in the first three games, the Knicks won with ease and became the first No. 8 seed to advance to the third round.

They move on to a conference finals matchup with the Indiana Pacers beginning Sunday, a series that Van Gundy will enter without knowing whether his job is safe for next season.

Dave Checketts, Madison Square Garden president, met with Van Gundy before the game and apologized to him for lying about his secret meeting with former Chicago Bull coach Phil Jackson in mid-April when the Knicks were struggling. But rather than give Van Gundy a vote of confidence or some kind of reassurance, Checketts again said the fate of the coach and the players will be decided at the end of the season.

“I’ve already stated what my position is on Jeff and Phil Jackson,” said Ewing, who has vowed not to play for Jackson if the Knicks hire him. “All I’m concerned about now is getting myself and the team ready to play against the Pacers.”

Allan Houston scored 19 points, including 12 in the first quarter when the Knicks took the lead for good. Ewing had 17 in his highest-scoring game of the series.

Atlanta shot 29%.