In the most severe penalty ever imposed during the playoffs, the National Basketball Association suspended five Knicks, including Patrick Ewing, and one Miami Heat player today for their part in a fight at the end of a game Wednesday night.
As a result, the Knicks will play without their two leading scorers, Ewing and Allan Houston, and the reserve Charlie Ward in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series at Madison Square Garden Friday night.
Though none of the players who left the Knicks bench threw punches, Ewing merely stood at halfcourt watching the fray and at least one Knick, Johnson, clearly tried to act as a peacemaker, Thorn followed to the letter a league rule on leaving the bench.
League rules state that at least nine players must be in uniform for a playoff game, so only three Knicks -- Ewing, Houston and Ward -- will miss Game 6. Starks and Johnson can play Friday night but would miss either Game 7 against the Heat or, if the Knicks win Friday night, Game 1 of the next round against Chicago.
When multiple suspensions are given out, the league goes in alphabetical order to determine who is suspended first, using the first letter of a player's last name for determination. Thus, Ewing and Houston must sit out Game 6 instead of Johnson and Starks. Ward must sit out immediately because he was one of the principals in the fight and was in the game at the time it occurred.
Ewing, a 12-year veteran who has made winning a league championship his primary career goal, was stunned today when he was informed of the decision. He descended a stairway to get ready for practice when he was told by a reporter, and he walked resolutely through a doorway without saying a word.
