At Game’s End, Fast Start Isn’t Enough for the Knicks

Pat Riley emerged from the locker room at American Airlines Arena in Miami on Monday night chewing his fingernails, his shirt soaked with sweat. It was that kind of game.

The Miami Heat overcame Alonzo Mourning’s absence and a 20-point first-half deficit, rallying to beat the New York Knicks, 85-76, to remain in first place in the Atlantic Division.

“Just an incredible game for us,” said Riley, whose Heat had been struggling. “I haven’t had this feeling about this team in a while. When we play that committed on defense, we can really be good.”

Shorthanded Miami fell behind, 37-17, then came back thanks to Jamal Mashburn, Clarence Weatherspoon and a smothering defense. The Knicks started out 12 for 16 but shot only 30% the rest of the way.

The Heat, who have led the division for nearly the entire season, pulled 1 1/2 games ahead of New York.

“They outplayed us,” said Knick center Patrick Ewing, who failed to take advantage of Mourning’s absence and had only eight points in 39 minutes. “We won the first quarter; they won the rest of the game.”

Mourning has a sore left ankle, injured Saturday at Washington. He won’t make the trip for tonight’s game at San Antonio. Heat guard Voshon Lenard also missed the game because of a lower abdominal strain.

Miami, which plays the Lakers at Staples Center Sunday, got 24 points from Mashburn, and Weatherspoon had 14 points and 12 rebounds off the bench.

Larry Johnson scored 20 points for the Knicks, who made their first four three-point attempts and raced to a 29-12 lead after only seven minutes.

Utah 106, New Jersey 101--Karl Malone barely missed his fourth career triple-double, scoring 35 points, collecting 12 rebounds and distributing nine assists as the Jazz beat the Nets at Salt Lake City.

Jeff Hornacek scored 27 points, making 10 of 11 shots from the field, and Bryon Russell added 14 as the Jazz won for the sixth time in seven games.

Stephon Marbury, going against John Stockton, led the Nets with 34 points. Former University of Utah star Keith Van Horn had 18 points.

Hornacek sealed the victory with two free throws with 11 seconds left after the Nets had cut their deficit to 103-101 on a three-pointer by Marbury with 16.8 seconds remaining.

Seattle 84, Charlotte 81--Gary Payton scored 21 of his 32 points in the second half and the SuperSonics rallied to win at Charlotte. The Hornets shot only 32% in the second half. Charlotte held Seattle to 33% shooting in the first quarter, but the Hornets scored only 20 points in the second.

Dallas 108, Boston 100--Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 points and made two key three-point shots in the fourth quarter as the Mavericks won at Boston.

Dallas improved to 4-4 since the arrival of Dennis Rodman, who was on his best behavior as he scored four points and grabbed 16 rebounds.

“He’s a legend,” Boston’s Danny Fortson said of going up against Rodman. “I was very impressed.”

Golden State 80, Atlanta 75--Two nights after losing to the Clippers, the Hawks lost to the lowly Warriors at Oakland. Donyell Marshall led the Warriors with 23 points, and Isaiah Rider had 24 for Atlanta.

Around the League

Utah’s Greg Ostertag was fined $7,500 and Portland’s Steve Smith was fined $3,000 by the NBA for their altercation Sunday during the Trail Blazers’ victory. “I asked him if he was all right and he got upset,” Ostertag said after the game. . . . Philadelphia guard Allen Iverson may miss tonight’s game against Dallas because of a partially torn right rotator cuff. He did not practice Monday. He suffered the injury Feb. 20 against the Lakers.