Knicks Look a Bit Off-Center With Embarrassing Loss

The first game of the post-Ewing era was a total humiliation for the New York Knicks.

Allen Iverson scored 25 points, Toni Kukoc scored 23, and the Philadelphia 76ers did as they pleased Tuesday night in a 101-72 thumping of the Knicks at New York.

The game was a complete debacle for Knicks, who played slow, sloppy basketball and suffered their worst defeat in a season opener. The fans started booing in the second quarter as the Knicks fell behind by 10 points, and the humiliation reached a peak late in the third quarter as the crowd chanted “Pat-rick Ew-ing” as the home team fell behind by 26.

“Down 25 or 30 points, I’m surprised they didn’t say anything worse,” Latrell Sprewell said. “We’ve set the bar so low, I can’t see us not improving.”

Nowhere was New York’s deficiency more pronounced than in the middle, where Marcus Camby--Ewing’s replacement in the pivot for the time being--was repeatedly scored upon.

Kukoc scored nine points while being guarded by Camby in the second quarter, and the 76ers found more success by giving the ball to Theo Ratliff and Tyrone Hill when Camby was switched to them defensively.

Allan Houston had 21 points but was the only player to find a rhythm offensively for the Knicks. Sprewell made one of nine shots and had six points, while former Laker Glen Rice, a reserve, scored only nine points on three-of-eight shooting.

Minnesota 106, Houston 98--Kevin Garnett scored 28 points and Terrell Brandon added 22 as the Timberwolves, without Joe Smith, built a 26-point lead and held on at Houston.

The Timberwolves had to put aside the distraction of penalties imposed by the NBA for a secret pact between the team and Smith, whose contract was voided.

Minnesota never trailed, and withstood a 33-point effort from Houston’s Cuttino Mobley, with 15 coming in the final quarter.

Hakeem Olajuwon, playing in his record 17th season with the same NBA team, played 18 minutes and had only four points and six rebounds. He and John Stockton of the Utah Jazz share that record.

Vancouver 94, Seattle 88--Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 27 points and Mike Bibby was one assist short of a triple double as the Grizzlies won at Vancouver, Canada.

Bibby had 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

Seattle’s Gary Payton did get the triple double, with 25 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, but it was not enough as the SuperSonics’ Ewing, in his regular-season debut on the West Coast after 15 seasons with the Knicks, had two points and 12 rebounds in 37 minutes.

San Antonio 98, Indiana 85--David Robinson scored 22 points and Tim Duncan added 16 at San Antonio as the Spurs spoiled the NBA coaching debut of Isiah Thomas.

Reggie Miller had 27 points and eight rebounds for the Pacers. Thomas, a Hall of Fame player with the Detroit Pistons, replaced Larry Bird, who announced he was resigning before taking the Pacers to the NBA finals last season.

The Spurs, who are expected to challenge the Lakers in the Western Conference, got a solid game from Robinson, who led the Spur offense on a night when Duncan got in foul trouble.

Golden State 96, Phoenix 94--Chris Mills made a desperate three-pointer with 4.7 seconds to play as the Warriors overcame a virtuoso performance by Jason Kidd at Oakland.

Kidd, who posted his 32nd triple-double, made two free throws with 29 seconds left to give Phoenix a one-point lead. He finished with 24 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.

Sacramento 100, Chicago 81--Sacramento didn’t need Jason Williams, as Predrag Stojakovic and Chris Webber each scored 23 points at Chicago.

Williams, the point guard with the spectacular passes and playground-style game, is suspended for the first five games of the season for failing to comply with his drug-treatment plan. But Webber and Stojakovic easily filled the void.

Dallas 97, Milwaukee 93--Michael Finley scored 26 points to lead the Mavericks at Dallas.

Ray Allen scored 26 points to lead the Bucks.

Finley leaped high for a rebound that he shoveled in a basket in the last two seconds of the third quarter, giving the Mavericks an 81-73 lead going into the last 12 minutes.

Charlotte 106, Atlanta 82--Jamal Mashburn scored 23 points and Baron Davis added 20 at Atlanta as the Hornets ruined the NBA debut of Hawk Coach Lon Kruger.

In a game marked more by who was sidelined than by who dressed, the Hawks were without centers Dikembe Mutombo, Lorenzen Wright and Cal Bowdler and guard Dion Glover, all sitting out because of various injuries and illnesses.

The Hornets, despite playing without forwards Derrick Coleman, Terrance Roberson and Lee Nailon, scored 18 consecutive points in the first quarter.

Cleveland 86, New Jersey 82--Lamond Murray made a twisting shot in the lane to hold off a late New Jersey rally at East Rutherford, N.J. Kenyon Martin, the overall No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, bombed in his Net debut, scoring 10 points on four-of-16 shooting.

Orlando 97, Washington 86--Tracy McGrady scored a career-high 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds at Orlando in his debut for the Magic, while Grant Hill, hobbling after off-season ankle surgery, was held to nine points on three-of-six shooting but finished with 10 assists, five rebounds and two steals.