The talk-radio phone calls in New York made their demands. The tabloids screamed the same plea on the same morning: Let Pat Play. When the Knicks were able to overcome the Miami Heat in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the return of Patrick Ewing became a matter of time. When Ewing finally returned Thursday night, in an 85-77 loss to Indiana, the question became another matter of time. How much can his comeback buy?
Indiana’s victory gave the Pacers a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series that resumes Saturday afternoon in New York. Ewing, who dislocated his right wrist and tore ligaments last Dec. 20, scored 10 points with six rebounds in 27 minutes, 20 in the second half.
His return had been compared to an unforgettable moment in Knicks history: The inspiring, if brief, appearance by Willis Reed at the start of the Game 7 victory in the 1970 finals against Los Angeles. Reed contributed a pair of jumpers at the end of a playoff run after suffering an injury four nights before. Ewing, his team just two games into the second round, had not played in nearly five months.
Ewing missed the final 56 regular-season games and the first six playoff games. The Knicks, who won 15 of the 26 games they played before Ewing’s injury, had a record of 28-28 after he was hurt.
“This is not the cavalry coming over the hill,” Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy said before the game. “It’s a top-50 player returning five months after major surgery to his shooting hand.”
When asked if he had been nervous, Ewing said: “What was there to be nervous about? I’ve been doing this for 13 years. I have a lot of confidence in myself, a lot of confidence in the doctors. I wasn’t nervous.”
His triumphs, and failures, have been at the center of this rivalry. Ewing’s dunk off an offensive rebound with 26.9 seconds to go in Game 7 became the difference in New York’s 1994 victory in the Eastern finals. One year later, in Pat Riley’s last game as Knicks coach, Ewing’s missed finger roll was the last chance in a Game 7 Pacers victory in the Eastern semifinals.
Ewing’s influence here, at both ends of the floor, gave the Knicks a chance to tie the series.
“He played a lot better than I anticipated,” said Pacers coach Larry Bird. “The more he plays, the better he’s going to get. He’s going to be a factor the next time out. With him in there, it changes a lot of what we’re trying to do.”
Reggie Miller scored 21 points for the Pacers, making 8 of 18 shots. Rik Smits scored 22, with three blocks. Smits made 8 of 18 shots including seven of his last 11, several on signature medium-range jumpers that Ewing could not reach.
“This is far from over between those two,” Miller said.
“One good slap on the wrist,” Bird had said before the game, “and we’ll find out if he can play.”
The Pacers made 23 of 28 free throws and committed eight turnovers. Indiana’s 16 fouls were the fewest for the Pacers in a playoff game. Indiana’s aggressiveness at the start of the fourth quarter placed the Knicks in a penalty situation with 7 minutes 4 seconds to play.
Still, the Knicks had their chance. Ewing’s first field goal, a fadeaway jumper in the lane that drew a foul for a three-point play, did not come until 6:31 remained in the third quarter. But it helped start a 12-2 run that gave the Knicks a 58-57 lead, their first of the second half.
The Knicks stayed close despite a fourth-quarter stretch in which they scored just three times in 12 possessions. John Starks, whose 20 points included 4-of-5 three-point shooting, drove around Smits to bring New York within four points with 1:31 to play. After Miller missed a jumper, Ewing took a pass from Allan Houston and scored with 45.9 seconds to play to bring the Knicks within 79-77.
Miller missed a jumper with 30 seconds to go, but an offensive rebound by Antonio Davis preserved the Pacers’ possession. Davis, fouled by Charles Oakley, made two free throws with 28.1 seconds to go. Davis then blocked a drive by Starks, Jalen Rose made two foul shots, and the lead was safe.
But the Knicks, at last, began to appear whole. Larry Johnson, in his return following the two-game suspension for fighting, scored 15 points. Ewing’s season had returned to the starting point.
“All I was concerned about was getting one game under my belt,” Ewing said. “And I got it.”
