on time all the time
Knicks loveable underdogs
BY ALAN HAHN
Newsday Staff Correspondent
December 22, 2006 12:00 AM

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- An overtime win over Western Conference power Utah with an undermanned, embattled team might have been accomplished through sheer determination. But David Lee's miraculous tip with one-tenth of a second left in the second overtime on Wednesday against Charlotte?

How do you explain the Knicks these days?

"Chuck Daly said to me, 'If you stick around in this business long enough, you will see everything,"' Isiah Thomas said.

New York loves an underdog, and with only nine players available for the Bobcats as a result of suspensions from Saturday's brawl and injuries (only eight played for the second straight game), the Knicks seem far more comfortable in that role than in anything else.

"I think we're really determined to win these games," said Channing Frye, who had a career-high 30 points against the Bobcats. "There's been a lot of things said about us and we're definitely feeling like the underdog."

Even the crowds at Madison Square Garden have been more supportive -- and larger -- than earlier in the season, when it was chic to boo the home team, its coach and its star player. Now it's all about rallying around them.

"Oh yeah," Frye said of the crowd turning in favor of the Knicks. "It's so much easier to play. It's great. The fans have done a great job . . . I don't know how to really explain it, but I mean, this is what everybody's talking about as the Garden."

A lot has been said about Isiah Thomas' Knicks (11-17) this season. But what can't be said is that they are boring. Whether it's last-second heroics such as Lee's against Charlotte and Stephon Marbury's fast-break layup that beat the Jazz, or frenetic comebacks from large deficits, or Thomas' own soap-opera affair with the fans and media, the Knicks keep you watching.

"We definitely want to do it the hard way," Thomas said. "We seem not to want anything easy. I admire the fight and courage, but at the same time, it would be good to have an easy night."

It's not likely to come tonight, when the Knicks host the red-hot Chicago Bulls (15-10), who have won five straight and 12 of their past 13 games. But at this point, how can you bet against them?

You can bet, however, that Bulls coach Scott Skiles wouldn't design a play in double overtime like the one Bernie Bickerstaff did on Charlotte's final possession, right before The Tip. Bickerstaff opted to put the ball in the hands of reserve guard Matt Carroll, who lost the ball against the defense of Renaldo Balkman and never got off a shot. (Marbury caused the turnover and dived to grab the loose ball with one-tenth of a second left to give the Knicks a chance for their miracle play.) Meanwhile, rookie Adam Morrison was on the bench and Raymond Felton (who had 16 assists) and Emeka Okafor, the team's best player, surprisingly were not involved. The Knicks will certainly take it.

Notes & quotes: Four of the Knicks' five starters have logged more than 90 minutes of playing time in the past two games. That kind of workload can't continue, especially with back-to-back games tonight and tomorrow. "These guys will absolutely die if we have to keep playing them these many minutes at this type of intensity," Thomas said. "The body can't hold up. It wouldn't surprise me if one or two of them broke down after this period." . . . Wednesday was the largest comeback win of the season for the Knicks. Charlotte led by 19 points (62-43) with 2:33 left in the second quarter.
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