ORLANDO – Patrick Ewing had his hands full trying to guard an out-of-shape Ike Austin. That is a situation that must improve for the Knicks,especially with Alonzo Mourning and the Heat coming to the Garden tomorrow.
Veteran Horace Grant put Austin’s 24-minute night into perspective, saying after the Magic’s 93-85 win at the O-rena last night, “He was huge! Huge, huge, huge! I mean, I’m in love with him already. I mean he is heaven sent to this organization and to this ballclub.”
Austin, who came over as a free agent, wound up with 14 points and four rebounds, hitting 6-of-13 shots. He said he was dragging by the fourth quarter and Chuck Daly had success going with his smaller lineup, paced by backup point guard Darrell Armstrong, who exploded for 15 points in 29 minutes.
Ewing said he felt fine. This was his first regular season game after missing the final 56 last season with a fractured and dislocated wrist. Ewing is still getting into shape following his union duties.
“We had a lot of great practices and didn’t carry it over into the game,” Ewing said. “We’re just going to get better. We’re going to work on the things we didn’t do well and that should help us get ready for Sunday. They just out-played us. We don’t have much time this is a sprint. As a whole, we’ve just got to get the job done.”
The Magic elected to attack Ewing. Noted point guard Penny Hardaway, “My thought was, as the point guard, was to go in there and force the issue. Get the ball inside to Ike and get him to go one-on-one against Ewing.” *
As for Marcus Camby’s Knick debut, you ask. Camby played all of 19.2 seconds, all at the end of the first half.
This also was a homecoming for Dennis Scott, who spent the first seven years of his career here before being traded to the Mavericks before the 1997-98 season after criticizing Magic management. He was looking for revenge, but didn’t find it, missing both his shots in seven minutes.
“Early in my career I would have probably felt that way, but it’s all about winning and I’m in a good situation to get back to the playoffs and taste what we did in 1995,” Scott said of his new Knick days.
Scott still lives here. He ripped into management at a summer basketball camp before he was traded.
“People are going to have their own perceptions, but I only know how to be Dennis,” said Scott. “I know I have a lot of people in this city who still love me, who see me on my Sea-doos in the water, and I’m the same old guy. It was just one time I got tired of being the whipping boy and I spoke my mind. Other than that I’m the same person.”
The Knicks, wore a black stripe on their left shoulder in memory of Red Holzman.