Knicks 85-Sixers 78 12.11.99
NEW YORK-His body was healed, his shot was still hurting. Patrick Ewing returned Friday night without his touch, although he still remembered how to rebound and shoot free throws well enough to help the New York Knicks to an 85-78 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Ewing, playing his first game since June 1 after recovering from a partially torn Achilles' tendon, shot 0-for-8 from the field and 7-for-8 from the line. He also had 10 rebounds and five fouls in 30 minutes, and his foul shooting down the stretch helped the Knicks hold off the Sixers. "It felt good, better than I expected," Ewing said. "I've got to get a basket, of course." Latrell Sprewell scored 31 points to lead the Knicks, who were able to stay in a guard-oriented offense even when their lumbering 7-footer was on the floor. Ewing, who missed the first 20 games of the season, often found himself a spectator on the court as his teammates stuck with what they've grown comfortable with, and there were only one or two plays where they reverted to the old style of dumping the ball into Ewing. Instead, when they needed someone to score on an isolation play in the low post, it was Larry Johnson. When they needed someone to slice through the paint, block a shot or elevate above the rim for a tip-in, it was Marcus Camby. Most of all, though, it was Sprewell who provided the offense and the excitement for a team that has grown accustomed over most of the past three seasons to playing without its 11-time All-Star. "The guy's been out for six months, so you can't just automatically change the offense the day he comes back _ especially with the success we've had playing the way we've played," Allan Houston said. Sprewell shot 13-for-21 to help offset a 3-for-15 night by Houston, and Camby and Johnson contributed 12 points apiece. Ewing scored fewer than 10 points for only the 34th time in 978 career games. It was his worst performance from the field since going 0-for-10 against Indiana during a playoff game in 1994. "I was a little rusty with my moves, but I thought I was trying to do other things," Ewing said. "You can walk on a treadmill and ride a bike, but nothing takes the place of banging, bumping, shooting, just playing ball." Tyrone Hill had 16 points to lead the 76ers, who were again without Allen Iverson even though he wanted to play. One day after having a cast taken off his broken right thumb, Iverson unsuccessfully begged coach Larry Brown to let him play. After the game, Iverson said he has been cleared to play Saturday night against Charlotte. "The thumb is fine," he said. "I could have played tonight." The Sixers missed Iverson's offense down the stretch, making only one field goal over the final 3 1/2 minutes. The score was 75-72 with 3:15 left when Ewing went to the line after a loose ball foul. He sank both for a 77-72 lead, and Camby followed with a driving layup for a seven-point advantage. Eric Snow cut the deficit to four on a 3-pointer, and Ewing was then fouled while grabbing an offensive rebound. He made both free throws with 1:33 left, then converted two more for an 85-78 lead with 46 seconds left after being fouled by George Lynch with just six seconds left on the shot clock. "He made big foul shots down the stretch, but I did see him struggle a little bit," Brown said. "When you don't play a lot, you're not going to have your legs. It's just going to take him a little time."
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