Knicks Throttle Pacers

Reggie Miller’s only outburst was a two-word obscenity directed at the fans.

Miller lost his cool Saturday as the New York Knicks were dominating the Indiana Pacers in an 87-73 victory at New York. The profanity came late in the third quarter after a series of physical plays and flops prompted the fans to direct a derisive chant at one of their least-favorite villains.

At the time, it seemed like a prelude to another chapter in Miller’s series of clutch performances at Madison Square Garden. But instead . . .

Miller sat on the bench for the fourth quarter as the Pacers never mounted a comeback and matched their most-lopsided loss of the season.

“As hard as it is for me to give the Knicks credit, they played very well at the defensive end,” Miller said. “We had no rhythm whatsoever. We didn’t do the things that got us to this point.”

Allan Houston made nine of 10 shots in one stretch, scored 13 points in the third quarter and finished with a team-high 19 as the Knicks moved into a tie with the Miami Heat for first place in the Atlantic Division.

Utah 91, Detroit 87--Karl Malone scored 33 points, including the winning basket on a 20-foot jumper with 47.4 seconds to play at Salt Lake City.

Detroit went scoreless on its last four possessions and the Jazz stole a victory because of a wild and confusing finish that had Piston Coach Alvin Gentry yelling and chasing the referees as they left the court.

With the Jazz nursing an 88-87 lead, Bryon Russell’s late three-point attempt appeared to come after the shot clock had expired.

That should have given Detroit possession with 3.8 seconds left, but the ball bounced long off the rim and ended up in the hands of Jeff Hornacek, who made a three-point shot at the buzzer.

No whistle was blown when the shot clock ran down.

“Cheated is a strong word,” the fuming Gentry said. “They [referees] didn’t make a call that should’ve been made. . . . It was an obvious 24-second violation.”

Seattle 94, Boston 91--Gary Payton scored 27 points and Vin Baker made four consecutive shots in the final five minutes at Seattle.

Vancouver 111, Milwaukee 100--Michael Dickerson scored 26 points at Milwaukee as the Grizzlies handed the Bucks their fifth consecutive home loss.