NBA PLAYOFFS : Oakley Lifts Knicks After Ewing Ejected in Second Quarter

Patrick Ewing, considered the New York Knicks’ most indispensable player, was gone before halftime. Enter Charles Oakley, whose inspired performance put the Knicks on the verge of a first-round playoff sweep.

Oakley pulled down 24 rebounds and scored 14 of his 25 points in the final six minutes of the second quarter Sunday, 10 of them in less than three minutes after Ewing was ejected with his second technical foul. The burst gave the Knicks a 55-33 halftime lead, and they went on to defeat the New Jersey Nets, 90-81, at New York to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

“Anthony Bonner told me I would have a 20-20 game and I thought he was talking about Barbara Walters’ show,” said Oakley, whose highs during the regular season were 24 points and 22 rebounds. “I usually just try to get rebounds and let other guys get the points. Scoring is just a bonus for me. I don’t get any plays called for me.”

The Nets made a game of it in the third quarter, starting with a 21-4 spurt in the first 5:10 to pull to within 59-54. The Nets’ deficit was 70-64 after three quarters, but the closest they got in the fourth quarter was 70-66 as they missed their first eight shots.

All told, the Nets made only 21 of 72 shots (29%), breaking the NBA playoff record-low of 22 field goals by St. Louis against Minneapolis in 1956.

Ewing was ejected with 5:21 to play in the second quarter when he and Derrick Coleman exchanged bumps after a basket gave the Knicks a 41-30 lead. Both were called for technical fouls, but because Ewing also was part of a double technical with Benoit Benjamin in the first quarter, he was ejected.

Referee Mike Mathis, who called the technicals on Ewing and Coleman, said he believed both players were guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct “starting under the basket and continuing down the floor.”

Ewing and Knick Coach Pat Riley were livid when they saw Ewing was being ejected.

“I don’t think I did anything that warranted the second technical or the first,” Ewing said. “I turned to (referee) Tommy Nunez to ask him if he saw the elbow thrown at me under the basket. Then I ran into Coleman and he pushed me. I’m an important player on this team and to kick me out when I didn’t do anything is wrong.”

Houston 115, Portland 104--Hakeem Olajuwon responded to chants of “MVP, MVP” with 46 points and a late shot-blocking flurry at Houston, helping the Rockets take a 2-0 lead in an opening-round series.

The Trail Blazers stayed within striking distance throughout the fourth quarter, but every time they tried to get the deficit below five points, Olajuwon was there to stop them.

Olajuwon blocked a shot by Clyde Drexler, his former teammate at the University of Houston, with 1:38 to play. Then, with 1:11 remaining, Olajuwon caught up with Rod Strickland on a fast break and swatted away a sure-thing layup that would have cut Houston’s lead to 104-100.

Olajuwon, certain to be first or second in voting for the league’s most valuable player award, had eight rebounds, six blocks and four assists. It was his fifth playoff game with at least 40 points.

Otis Thorpe had 19 points and 12 rebounds and Vernon Maxwell 17 points for Houston. For Portland, Clifford Robinson had 28 points, Rod Strickland 26, Harvey Grant 14 and Drexler 13.

Chicago 105, Cleveland 96--Scottie Pippen scored 22 points and the Bulls wore down the Cavaliers with their size and bench strength at Chicago to take a 2-0 lead in a first-round series.

Horace Grant had 18 points and 12 rebounds, B.J. Armstrong had 16 points and Toni Kukoc a career-high 11 assists for the three-time defending NBA champions, who once again harassed Cleveland’s Mark Price into a sub-par game.

Chicago had a three-point lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter and built it to 10 with 7:06 to play as Pippen made a jumper and Armstrong made a three-point shot after another assist from Kukoc. The Cavaliers weren’t able to mount a serious threat down the stretch.

Cleveland, which played for the second consecutive game without injured big men Brad Daugherty, John Williams and Larry Nance, is one loss from falling to the Bulls in the playoffs for the fifth time in seven years.

Gerald Wilkins led the Cavaliers with 28 points. Price, limited to nine points in the opening game, scored 14 against the tough defense of Armstrong and the Bulls’ double teaming. He made only five of 14 shots.

Phoenix 117, Golden State 111--Kevin Johnson scored 17 of his playoff career-high 38 points in the third quarter at Phoenix, helping the Suns take a 2-0 lead in a first-round series.

Johnson, using his one-on-one skills, scored 15 points in the final 5:02 of the third quarter. Danny Ainge started the fourth quarter with a three-point basket, giving the Suns a 94-86 lead, and clinched the game with 3:05 to play on an 18-footer from the corner that put the Suns ahead, 116-104.

The Suns didn’t make another shot, but the 12-point lead was too much for the Warriors to overcome.

Charles Barkley scored 20 points for the Suns and Dan Majerle scored 17.

Chris Mullin scored 32 points, Latrell Sprewell 19 and Chris Webber 17 for the Warriors, who made 51% of their shots.

The Warriors led by 10 points in the first quarter, but Majerle’s layup with 57 seconds to play before halftime gave Phoenix its first lead, 53-52.

Webber answered with a dunk 12 seconds later, and Sprewell’s dunk in the final seconds gave the Warriors a 56-53 halftime lead.

Sprewell also taunted Barkley after the basket, but referee Lee Jones did not make a call. Earlier in the quarter, though, a technical foul was assessed against Cedric Ceballos for celebrating after a dunk. The officials left the court to a chorus of boos.