The Knicks at Last

In the rough and tumble world of professional basketball, survival is often the name of the game. Early this season, the Los Angeles Lakers lost the services of Center Wilt Chamberlain, the victim of a torn knee tendon. Wilt missed 70 games, and the Lakers were lucky to make the National Basketball Association playoffs. The New York Knickerbockers, on the other hand, never had a better season: they breezed into the finals behind Center Willis Reed, the league's Most Valuable Player. Then last week, with the best-of-seven series tied at two games apiece, a startling turnabout occurred. There stood Chamberlain, back from surgery and looking as menacing as ever. And there, after eight minutes of the fifth game, lay Reed, writhing on the floor with a severely strained hip muscle.

As Reed was led limping off the court, Knick Coach Red Holzman was seized by a desire "to go to the movies." If he had, he would have missed one of the most remarkable rallies in N.B.A. history. With Reed gone, Chamberlain dominated the pivot and led the Lakers to a commanding 53-40 lead at half time. In the second half, the Knicks started three forwards and two guards and shifted to what they call their "inspirational defense." One part heart and three parts hustle, the pressing defense drove the Lakers--and 19,500 wildly cheering fans in Madison Square Garden--into a near hysteria. The undersized Knicks skittered around the 7-ft. 1-in. Chamberlain like squirrels under a sequoia, forcing the shaky Lakers to throw the ball away 19 times. Final score: Knicks 107, Lakers 100.

Two nights later in Los Angeles the Lakers could not do anything wrong. With Reed still sidelined, the Lakers' strategy was basic: work it in to Wilt. He responded by raking in 27 rebounds and scoring 45 points as the Lakers crushed the Knicks 135 to 113. That tied the series at three games apiece and set the stage for the final game. Vowed Reed: "I will play even if I have to hop around on one leg."

As it happened, he could have played on his knees. Reed, limping noticeably, scored the first basket of the game, and the Knicks never looked back. In a virtual replay of their ball-hawking heroics in the fifth game, the New Yorkers all but ran the Lakers off the court. Hobbled though he was, Reed continually muscled Chamberlain out of position; the tallest and strongest man in the game rarely had a clear shot. The Knicks' outside men hounded the Lakers to distraction. On offense, their whirling, quick-cutting weaves time and again sprang a man loose. With Guard Walt Frazier leading the way, the Knicks hit 58% of their shots and rolled to a runaway 69-42 lead at half time. In the second half, it was more of the same as Holzman sent in waves of reserves who squelched every Los Angeles rally. For the Lakers, the 113-99 defeat was the seventh time they had gone to the championship finals and lost. For the Knicks, it was the first N.B.A. title in 24 years.

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