Glen Rice scored 12 of his 21 points during a fourth-quarter onslaught as the Knicks shook off their 29-point loss of two nights earlier and crushed the Hawks 94-69 Thursday night.

"Things happen like that sometimes," Rice said. "The most important thing is we were able to bounce back from such an ugly game."

Rice had a pair of 3-pointers, a 20-footer and a driving layup among his fourth-quarter points as New York scored 17 of the first 23 points of the period to turn the game into a rout.

It didn't hurt that the Knicks were facing an opponent without much size. Dikembe Mutombo (malaria) and Lorenzen Wright (knee sprain) sat out for Atlanta, leaving the Hawks with a small front line of Roshown McLeod, Hanno Mottola and Alan Henderson.

That little lineup was a welcome sight for the Knicks, whose height disadvantage in the post-Patrick Ewing era is one of the team's main concerns this season. The Knicks grabbed only two offensive rebounds to Atlanta's 14.

"Two -- that's not good," Larry Johnson said. "Hopefully we're saving them for tomorrow night (at Washington)."

Latrell Sprewell and Marcus Camby bounced back from poor performances in the season-opener. Sprewell, who shot 1-for-9 Tuesday, had 15 points and four assists while Camby, who was held to five points and four rebounds against Philadelphia, had 12 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks.

"I took the brunt of the 30-point loss on my shoulders, but that's the way it is around here," Camby said.

Allan Houston also scored 15 and Charlie Ward shot 4-for-4 to finish with 10 points. The Knicks shot 50 percent from the field, 54 percent from 3-point range and 91 percent from the line.

Henderson had 18 and Jim Jackson 16 for the Hawks, who have been defeated decisively in their first two games.

"We didn't give enough credit to New York. They're tough," Hawks coach Lon Kruger said.

The Knicks began pulling away late in the first quarter and held an 11-point lead entering the fourth. It soon turned into a runaway as Chris Childs hit a jumper, Rice made a 3-pointer and Johnson scored on consecutive shots from the lane to make it 80-62.

Rice followed with a 20-footer to give New York its first 20-point lead.

"I haven't shown you guys nothing yet," Rice said. "Hopefully it'll be contagious and everybody will fill it up like I did tonight. I'm anxious to see what it's like when everybody is hitting. There's going to be some fireworks out there."

Game Notes
Wright is expected to return to action during the Hawks' trip to the West next week. Mutombo's return to full speed should take longer. His conditioning has been hurt by his inability to run. ... Atlanta's Larry Robinson, coming off a 21-point outing against Charlotte, shot 0-for-6 from 3-point range and scored two points. Jason Terry shot 1-for-7 for three points, while Jackson was 5-for-17 from the field. ... The Knicks drew their 349th consecutive sellout crowd. There were no chants.