The revived Knicks are bringing two souvenirs back to New York - the homecourt advantage in the NBA Finals and the shooting touch they misplaced temporarily.
With their best shooting performance of the playoffs following one of their worst, they beat the Houston Rockets 91-83 Friday night to gain a split of the first two games and salvage what seemed like a wasted trip just two days earlier.The Knicks still kept up their trademark defense as the Rockets did not have a field goal over the final 61/2 minutes.
After making just 34 percent of their shots in an 85-78 opening loss, the Knicks connected on 52.2 percent in Game 2, only the fourth time in 20 playoff games they shot better than 50 percent.
They were outstanding from 3-point territory, going 7-for-11 after a horrid 4-for-15 opening night.
Trailing 79-76, the Knicks outscored the Rockets 15-4 the rest of the way as Houston went without a field goal after Vernon Maxwell's layup had given them the three-point lead with 6:32 left.
Derek Harper's 3-pointer gave New York the lead for good at 81-79 with 4:29 to go, and he hit his fourth of the game with two minutes left, putting the Knicks on top 87-81.
John Starks, who rebounded from a 3-for-18 shooting effort in Game 1 to go 6-for-11, had 19 points, while Harper had 18 on 7-for-11 shooting. Patrick Ewing had 16 points and 13 rebounds.
"We know that we are a much better shooting team than what we showed in the previous game," Starks said. "I think we needed some rest. We just came off two tough seven-game series. We came out like we wanted to win tonight."
Hakeem Olajuwon led Houston with 25 points, and Maxwell had 20.
The next three games of the best-of-7 series will be played in New York starting Sunday night.
"We don't have a chance to relax. Houston is a very good road team," Harper said. "We have to enjoy this game for a little while and get ready to play the next three games in New York."
Starks finished 3-for-4 from 3-point range while Harper was 4-for-6. The Rockets managed to go 6-for-21, setting a finals record for attempts in a game.
Both teams shot far better and ran more than they did in the slow-paced opener, in which only 38 percent of the shots went in.
On Friday night, the Rockets shot 39 percent.
"We felt that we didn't play as well as we should have in startingoff a championship series," Starks said. "We had a chance to get that game in the end, but we'll take the split."
It was the fourth time in five years that teams split the first two games of the finals. In the three previous cases, the home teams in those two games went on to win the title despite blowing the homecourt advantage.
The Knicks are trying to extend the East's championship streak to six seasons. The last Western Conference team to win it was the Los Angeles Lakers, under current New York coach Pat Riley, in 1988.
The Knicks broke a six-game losing streak at the Summit and are 3-8 in their last 11 games overall against the Rockets, including this season's losses of 94-85 and 93-73.
In this year's playoffs, the Knicks are 3-7 on the road, while Houston is 8-3 at home.
The Knicks led 72-65 after the third quarter, but the Rockets got the first six points of the fourth period on a basket by Maxwell, a free throw by Robert Horry and a 3-pointer by Sam Cassell.
Ewing's jumper put New York ahead 74-71 with 10:16 to play. Olajuwon's turnaround cut the lead back to one. After Greg Anthony's jumper made the score 76-73 with 7:54 remaining, the Knicks went cold and Houston capitalized.