AROUND THE NBA

New York Knick small forward Latrell Sprewell, who averaged 18.6 points a game this season and shot 43.5% from the field, is six for 25 in the first two games of the Knicks’ Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Miami Heat and has scored 11 points in each game.

Sprewell is simply glad his shooting problems haven’t hurt the Knicks, who pulled even in the series Tuesday with an 82-76 victory at Miami.

“They’ve been playing good defense against me. I can’t take that away from them,” said Sprewell, who averaged a team-high 19 points in the Knicks’ first-round sweep of the Toronto Raptors. “Their players are aware of what I like to do. No question, their defense is having an effect.

“I haven’t played well in this series, but I feel if I get going, we’re going to be really good. I’d love to see everybody on our team play the way they’re capable.”

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Miami forward Jamal Mashburn said the Heat is not apprehensive about playing in New York after losing home-court advantage. Game 3 will be Friday and Game 4 Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

“It’s not hard to get geared up,” Mashburn said.

“We’ve been in this situation before. They came here and accomplished what they wanted. We’ve got to go up there and accomplish what we want.

“It’s a different building, but the basket is still the same height and the floor is still the same length and width.”

Mashburn is a New York City native, but he doesn’t anticipate having much of a cheering section at Madison Square Garden.

“I don’t think I’m a hometown favorite anymore,” he said.

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Knick Coach Jeff Van Gundy marveled at critics who emphasized the 0-for-10 shooting drought Miami center Alonzo Mourning endured Tuesday, instead of looking at Mourning’s overall performance.

“You know you’re great when you get 17 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks and they’re saying, ‘How did you stop him?’ ” Van Gundy said of Mourning, who had 26 points in the Heat’s series-opening 87-83 victory. “I thought we did a little better job [Tuesday] keeping him out of the paint. He’s hard to handle, but our guys did a pretty nice job on him in the paint.”

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Miami guard Tim Hardaway, bothered by a sprained left foot, had 13 points in 30 minutes in Game 2, an improvement over his six-point performance in the opener. He’s still not his normal self, but his teammates appreciate his floor leadership.

“He’s a trouper,” Mashburn said. “You evaluate his heart, not his performance.”