Ewing Has the Touch for Knicks

Patrick Ewing’s turnaround jumper with two seconds left gave the New York Knicks an 83-81 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night at New York.

But it was the basket Ewing wasn’t credited with that had Indiana fuming.

Ewing appeared to redirect Larry Johnson’s off-target three-point shot into the basket with 21 seconds left to give the Knicks an 81-79 lead. But the referees gave Johnson credit for a three-point basket.

“They’re cheating us now,” Indiana’s Reggie Miller said. “I don’t know if it’s being [in] a small market, but we’ll never get the benefit of the doubt like the big-market teams like New York and Los Angeles. That’s just the league being the league. Enough is enough.”

The Pacers remained one game ahead of Miami for the Eastern Conference’s best record, and the Knicks moved to within three games of Indiana.

Minnesota 102, Detroit 100--Kevin Garnett scored 25 points, including a 10-foot jump shot at the buzzer, to lead the Timberwolves past the Pistons and enable his team to tie a franchise record with its 26th victory at home.

Milwaukee 104, Orlando 87--Ray Allen scored 33 points and Sam Cassell added 18 points and eight assists as the energized Bucks’ victory at Milwaukee moved them within one game of Orlando for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff berth.

Philadelphia 96, Miami 80--Allen Iverson scored 33 points to lead the host 76ers to victory and keep Philadelphia one game ahead of Charlotte in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The loss ended the Heat’s seven-game win streak.

Boston 99, Atlanta 94--Antoine Walker scored 26 of his 34 points in the second half, including a thee-point basket with 25 seconds left to lead the Celtics past the Hawks at Boston.

Charlotte 107, Washington 105--Elden Campbell’s 18-foot turnaround jumper over Juwan Howard as time expired lifted the Hornets at Washington.

Toronto 112, Cleveland 103--Vince Carter’s first career triple-double--31 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists--helped defeat the Cavaliers at Toronto and decrease the Raptors’ magic number to one for their first playoff berth.

Portland 90, Utah 86--Greg Anthony’s three-point basket with 21.8 seconds remaining lifted the Trail Blazers to victory over the Jazz at Salt Lake City.