Heat Stops Knicks in Another Wild One

When Muhammad Ali and his 10-year-old son, Asaad, visited the Miami Heat locker room following Sunday’s game, the youngster slowly approached Tim Hardaway for an autograph.

“He thinks you’re great,” Ali said.

“He thinks we’re the greatest?” Hardaway said with a grin. “He’s right.”

The Heat let the New York Knicks off the ropes but still won bragging rights--for now--with an 81-76 victory at Miami.

Hardaway scored 25 points, including 14 consecutive Heat points in the third period to put them ahead, 60-43. Then came the inevitable wild finish.

Led by Marcus Camby, New York rallied and cut the deficit to 76-74 with 25 seconds left. The Knicks’ Charlie Ward was then called for a flagrant foul on Bruce Bowen, and when New York Coach Jeff Van Gundy argued at length, he received a technical and was ejected by referee Joe Crawford.

The calls helped give the Heat seven free throws in the final 20.4 seconds, and they made five to clinch the win.

The technical probably didn’t cost New York the game, but Van Gundy admitted he was wrong to lose his temper then.

“It was a mistake on my part,” Van Gundy said.

With six regular-season games remaining, Miami took a one-game lead over New York in the race for the No. 3 seeding in the Eastern Conference.

The rivals have met in the postseason each of the past four years, with New York eliminating Miami the past three years. This season it’s unlikely their paths would cross before the conference finals.

Alonzo Mourning, facing New York for the first time since his comeback from a kidney ailment, had 11 points and four rebounds in 25 minutes. He missed four consecutive free throws in the final 73 seconds, but the Heat improved to 4-3 since his return after missing the first 69 games.

Bowen made only two of 13 shots but sparked a smothering defensive effort with a career-high six steals.

“If the shots aren’t falling, you’ve got to do something else to affect the game,” he said.

Camby had 23 points and 16 rebounds for the Knicks, who were without swingman Latrell Sprewell. He didn’t dress because of a stomach virus.

The crowd of 20,103, which included Ali next to the Miami bench, was the largest for a Heat home game.

Indiana 108, New Jersey 83--Jalen Rose scored 19 of his 29 points in the Pacers’ 41-point third quarter at East Rutherford, N.J., to move his team to a 1 1/2-game lead over Boston in the race for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth.

Toronto 100, Chicago 88--Vince Carter scored 33 points at Toronto to help the Raptors extend their winning streak to four games and move 1 1/2 games behind the Knicks for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Seattle 101, Milwaukee 88--Gary Payton had 26 points and 15 assists at Seattle to help the SuperSonics stave off playoff elimination with a victory over former coach George Karl and his Bucks.

A Minnesota victory Tuesday night against Vancouver would eliminated the SuperSonics from playoff contention.

San Antonio 84, Golden State 76--Tim Duncan had 28 points and nine rebounds at Oakland as the Spurs held off the Warriors for their fourth consecutive victory.

The Spurs, winners of nine of their last 11, played without David Robinson (back spasms).

Around the League

Allen Iverson, who has sat out Philadelphia’s last two games because of a bruised tailbone, was listed as probable for the 76ers’ game tonight against Boston.