Practice had ended and most of Alonzo Mourning's teammates had departed, but he stayed late to lift weights, moving quickly from one exercise to the next as if racing the clock.

Time is running out on the Miami Heat's season. They trail the New York Knicks 3-1 going into tonight's Game 5 at Miami Arena."We're a wounded animal," Mourning said. "You pick at it and pick at it, and it gets a little ornery and frustrated until you kill it. We're not dead yet."

An 89-76 loss Monday at Madison Square Garden left Miami on the verge of elimination. Coach Pat Riley tried to rally the Atlantic Division champions for one last stand, chastising his players at practice Tuesday for meek postgame comments.

"Nobody said anything to the press other than, `You've got to give them credit' and `They're better than us,' " Riley said. "Not one player said anything about, `We're going to win on Wednesday.'

"That bothered me. It was very revealing. The scenario of being down 3-1 and the fact that New York may be simply superior can get to any person. You've got to fight it."

But the Heat also know they face long odds. Since 1981, the only NBA team to overcome a 3-1 deficit was the Houston Rockets, who rallied past the Phoenix Suns in 1995.

The Heat must win three games in a row against a team that hasn't lost three in a row since November. New York is 6-2 against Miami this season.

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"We're just better," Knicks guard Chris Childs said.

"They're definitely walking with their chests out," Heat forward P.J. Brown said. "They've earned that."

New York is eager to close out the series and advance to the Eastern Conference finals against the Chicago Bulls. If the Heat force a sixth game, it would be at New York on Friday.

"We have to have the same sense of urgency that they're going to have," Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "We need that desperately."

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