Patrick Ewing

NEW YORK -- His arrival in this hard-to-please town wasn't exactly met with a ringing endorsement from his coach. In fact, New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy questioned his work habits and his toughness, and his heavy minutes on the bench early in the season earned him the nickname "Marcus Can't Be."Well, Marcus Camby "Can Be" an important piece to the improbable championship run of the Knicks. While Larry Johnson grabbed all the headlines with his rare, game-winning four-point play in New York's 92-91 win over Indiana on Saturday night, Camby's solid effort leading up to that shot helped keep the Knicks in the game.

NEW YORK -- The New York Knicks' remarkable transformation from a team teetering on collapse a month ago to a group with a chance to turn its season into something special continued last night as they emphatically claimed Game 4 to sweep the Atlanta Hawks and take their second-round playoff series.Relentless in their barrage of the thin Hawks, the Knicks eased away for a 79-66 victory and earned the right to play the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals, with Game 1 on Sunday in Indianapolis.

Eastern ConferenceNo. 1 Miami (33-17) vs. No. 8 New York (27-23)Season series: Tied, 2-2 (Miami, 83-79, on Feb. 7; Miami, 85-84, on March 2; New York, 82-80, on April 25; New York, 101-88, on May 5).Last playoff appearance: Teams met in the first round last year, when seventh-seeded New York won, 3-2. The Knicks then lost to Indiana in the conference semifinals, 4-1.Key players: Miami -- Alonzo Mourning (20.1 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 3.9 bpg), Tim Hardaway (17.4 ppg, 7.3 apg), Jamal Mashburn (14.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg)

WASHINGTON -- Juwan Howard was on the injured list with a sprained left ankle. Terry Davis was a late scratch with a bruised right shin. So when Mitch Richmond collapsed in a heap with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter and his team trailing by two, the Washington Wizards appeared in serious trouble."

The main thing Crystal McCrary and Rita Ewing want you to know is they did not write their autobiographies.They wrote fiction, get it? Fiction. So what if "Homecourt Advantage" (Avon Books, 1998), reads like a juicy tell-all, inside look at the National Basketball Association?So what if McCrary is the wife of Greg Anthony, a Seattle Supersonics player? And Ewing is married to Patrick Ewing of the New York Knicks?The Ewings are a superstar basketball couple going through their own personal drama.

No. 3 Indiana (58-24) vs.No. 7 New York (43-39)Season series: Pacers won 2-1, with the teams splitting the final two games when Patrick Ewing was sidelined.Last round: Indiana defeated No. 6 Cleveland in four games. New York defeated No. 2 seed Miami in five games.Key players: Indiana -- Reggie Miller (18.5 ppg), Rik Smits (16.8 ppg, 5.0 rbg), Chris Mullin (10.5 ppg), Mark Jackson (11.0 apg). New York -- Allan Houston (23.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg), Larry Johnson (20.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg), John Starks (16.8 ppg)

After having surgery on his shattered right wrist Monday, New York Knicks center Patrick Ewing reportedly told teammate John Starks that he would be back in time for the playoffs. Of course, we all know about Ewing and his predictions.Unfortunately for Ewing, the injury that occurred against the Milwaukee Bucks on Dec. 20 could be career-threatening because the ligaments in his wrist were shredded. And that would be the end of the Knicks as we know them -- a highly competitive but inconsistent group that seemingly everyone loved to hate.

In starting the season with an 11-0 record, the Los Angeles Lakers were frighteningly good, blowing out opponents while playing most of the time without All-Star center Shaquille O'Neal. The question now is: What happened?Suddenly, the Lakers look like a team that's not interested in basketball, especially after their recent slide that included losses to the Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers, dropping the Lakers into second place in the Pacific Division."Confidence," was Kobe Bryant's response, when asked what was wrong with the team.

During his 12-year NBA career, Otis Thorpe has always been thought to be the consummate professional, a player willing to quietly give his all in any way to help a team win.But there are indications in Detroit that, because of a feud with coach Doug Collins, he has quit on his teammates.Thorpe has been upset this season because he is not involved more on offense. He had a disagreement with Collins on Feb. 2, and since has basically fallen into the tank. The worst came last week when Thorpe was outscored by Utah's Karl Malone, 41-0.

LANDOVER -- After he played in just 15 games last season, some doubted whether Chris Webber could even fit in with the Washington Bullets this season.But Webber has proved his doubters wrong, averaging more than 20 points and 10 rebounds during the first half of the season -- one of six NBA players to do so.So when the NBA yesterday announced the reserves for the All-Star team, it was almost a given that Webber would be among the 24 players. But he received one of the shocks of his NBA career at the shoot-around yesterday afternoon, when coach Jim Lynam told him that he had not made it."