Tim Floyd’s Bulls don’t exactly get Patrick Ewing’s gander up anymore.
But he’ll have a lot of other motivation when Chicago visits the Knicks tonight, perhaps proving something to coach Jeff Van Gundy. Perhaps proving to Van Gundy that under no circumstances should he not be in the lineup when the game is on the line in the fourth quarter.
Tonight’s encounter likely won’t be tight in the fourth, although you never know with these Knicks, who never blow out teams anymore. Meanwhile, the “Horri-Bulls” somehow have won three straight games after a 2-26 start.
“It’s not the same Bulls,” Ewing said. “Michael is not there, Scottie is not there, Dennis is not there. But you still have to respect them. They’re an NBA team. You have to come out and go at them, especially with the way we played Saturday.”
Actually, Ewing didn’t play much in the loss to the Cavs. Ewing, who is averaging a modest 30.5 minutes per game, sat out the game’s final 16 minutes. Ewing was hampered by the flu and was completing his first back-to-back set since his return. Publicly, Ewing absorbed the benching without complaint.
Privately, considering Ewing’s ego, he had to be stewing. When asked how he handled his initial back-to-back games, Ewing smiled and got in a little dig, saying “I don’t know, I didn’t play that much.”
Ewing will get two more back-to-back tests this week and says his flu is almost past. “I feel a lot better than I did the other day,” Ewing said. “I was laying in bed [Sunday]. I needed a day just to blow it out.”
Tomorrow the Knicks play in Detroit to complete the first set of back-to-backs. On Friday and Saturday, the Knicks (20-13) play a home-and-home with Charlotte. Last season, Ewing’s numbers were solid on the second legs of back to backs — averaging 19.7 points in 36.8 minutes. But there was genuine concern about how he’d hold up this season at age 37 with the Achilles’ tendinitis never too far away from resurfacing.
“I try not to let it affect me,” Ewing said. “I’ve been playing back-to-back for 15 years now. I go about it the same way as if it was one game.”
Van Gundy continued to admit regret to benching Ewing. “I play the guys who give us the best chance to win,” Van Gundy said. “When we don’t win, I didn’t play the right guys. Evey time we lose, I look at things that I could’ve done different.”
But never has Van Gundy had to reflect about sitting Ewing for all of the fourth. To anyone’s best memory, it’s never happened.
Considering the touchiness of the situation and Ewing’s pride, it was surprising Van Gundy did not meet with Ewing to discuss the move.
Van Gundy hinted that when he read Ewing’s classy remarks in the newspaper the next day, he didn’t feel compelled to explain anything to the future Hall-of-Famer yesterday when the team regrouped for their first practice since the Cleveland debacle.
“If I had to meet with every guy who didn’t get the minutes they wanted, I’d have 14 guys up there [in my office] every day,” Van Gundy said.
The Bulls were a pathetic outfit when the Knicks beat them soundly at United Center in the season’s second game 84-74 on Nov. 3. The Knicks have posted only three victories with margins higher than 10 points — the last one coming in Houston on Dec. 14. Every time the Knicks have been on the verge of blowing out a team since, they’ve let them get back into the game.
The Knicks could use a nice blowout tonight, if for no other reason to get Andrew Lang and Mirsad Turkcan into a game. “We haven’t really had one all year,” Marcus Camby said. “For us mentally, you’d like to be able to finish a team off. It would help our momentum.”
Of course, it would be in poor taste for Van Gundy to talk about the importance of blowing out a club as sorry as the rebuilding Bulls. Not to give the Bulls any ammunition, Van Gundy started to sound like the Knicks were facing Jordan tonight.
“They’re much better now than before when they were ravaged by injuries,” Van Gundy said. “We have to expect a tough game. If we expect anything differently, we’re going to be in trouble.”
With Toni Kukoc back in the lineup, Chicago’s three straight victories have come against Washington twice and slumping Boston.