Riley ‘Disgusted’ by Heat’s Effort

If he were a movie critic, Miami Heat Coach Pat Riley would have given it an emphatic thumbs-down.

Still exasperated by his team’s 91-83 loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday, Riley scrapped his practice plans Monday in Miami. Instead, he replayed the horror film of the game in which the Heat lost the lead of this Eastern Conference semifinal series.

“Today I’m disgusted,” Riley said Monday. “Tomorrow I’ll start coaching again.”

The Knicks also did mostly film work Monday, but they practiced lightly. They will practice at New York today before flying to Miami for Game 5 Wednesday.

Riley was most annoyed by his team’s 19 turnovers, nine by center Alonzo Mourning.

“It was the game I was afraid we were going to play--one big-mistake game on our part,” he said. “They had a lot to do with it, but I don’t think our focus and our concentration [were there]. Being aware of how much they needed the game, we were absolutely careless, not only from an offensive standpoint, but from a defensive standpoint.”

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Riley met Monday with point guard Tim Hardaway, who has been hobbled by a sprained left foot, and hinted Hardaway will remain in the starting lineup.

“Despite what people think, he has been a positive for us,” Riley said. “We need him. We need his heart. We need his savvy.

“He means too much to this franchise to be thought of as a liability. We’re working our way around it. He didn’t make nine turnovers and he didn’t miss four free throws, so I would not be pointing fingers at Tim Hardaway.”

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What would a Knick-Heat series be without a minor--or major--disagreement?

Heat guard Anthony Carter said Sunday that Charlie Ward’s fourth-quarter performance was built on “garbage points,” and downplayed the importance of Ward’s scoring the Knicks’ final nine points.

“I don’t really think he stepped up like that,” said Carter, whose disputed shot gave the Heat a 77-76 overtime victory in Game 3. “I just thought time was running down and he just made a few shots. I don’t think those are shots that hurt us.”

The Knicks, of course, disputed that, hinting Carter was covering up for his own faults.

“I don’t see how,” guard Chris Childs said of the “garbage points” claim. “We were up [82-75] when Charlie made all the big plays, and they were all against [Carter]. . . . So what does it say about [Carter’s] defense?”