1.Miami 2.New York 3.Washington 4.Orlando 5.New Jersey 6.Philadelphia 7.Boston

For one of the few times in his life, Jeff Van Gundy was speechless. "What could I have possibly said to the guys?" the Knicks coach asks. "When you lose like that and you pour your hearts out, what can you say?"

Van Gundy had no words to salve his team's wounds on May 18. New York had just been eliminated by Miami in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The series loss was particularly devastating because it was of the Knicks' own making. They had been up three games to one when, in Game 5, New York's Charlie Ward and the Heat's P.J. Brown got into a wrestling match that prompted five Knicks to leave the bench—a violation of league rules—and join the scrum. Miami went on to win 96-81, and six Knicks were suspended. Ward, center Patrick Ewing and shooting guard Allan Houston missed Game 6, small forward Larry Johnson and shooting guard John Starks missed Game 7, and reserve Dontae' Jones missed both games. Because his teammates had not joined the fray, Brown was the only Heat player suspended. New York lost the last two games and, with them, the series.

Van Gundy now tries to find something positive in that heartbreak. "We never want to go through that experience again," says the coach. "Last year in the playoffs we were playing as well as we had all season long. Everything that happened has made us a hungry team."

The Knicks have remained essentially unchanged from last season, and, to a man, they vow to never again beat themselves. Says forward Buck Williams, "Everyone here believes this is the year we're supposed to win a championship."

For that to happen, Ewing will have to play at least as well as he did last year. The 35-year-old Ewing, who signed a four-year, $68 million contract in July, put up numbers as strong as any center's in the league in 1996-97. What more could anyone, including Van Gundy, ask of him? Only that he play hard every night, even when the Knicks face weaker teams. "A lot of people are close in this league physically," says Van Gundy. "But for us, the key is the ability not to have lapses in the regular season." During the last month of the regular season, New York had one of those lapses. On March 11 the Knicks led Miami by 1 1/2 games. But they lost nine of the next 16 games, including one to Dallas, one to Milwaukee and two to New Jersey. By April 14 they were five games behind the Heat. Van Gundy, who signed a three-year, $7 million contract extension in July, believes the key to New York's postseason fate is home court advantage, something that will come only with a more consistent regular season.

It didn't help last season that the Knicks led the league in turnovers, averaging 17.8 per game. To reduce that number, New York has asked point guard Chris Childs to take better care of the ball. After missing the first nine games of '96-97 with a fractured right fibula, Childs struggled until finally finding his rhythm down the stretch. Houston, Childs's backcourt mate, also got off to a slow start, but by season's end he had become a steady scorer. Houston had surgery in June to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist, and it may take him awhile to get going again. If he has not recovered by opening day, Starks, winner of the NBA's Sixth Man Award last season, will start.

Johnson and veteran Charles Oakley should start alongside Ewing on the front line. Last season Johnson deferred to Ewing and Houston, and his scoring average dropped by nearly eight points from '95-96, when he was with Charlotte. "I think Larry will score about 15 points per game this season," says Van Gundy. "He knows more what to expect, and we know better how to use him."

The 33-year-old Oakley isn't much of an offensive threat anymore, but he's a terror on defense, and his tenacity on both ends of the court is crucial on this often lackadaisical team. New York added some depth (and height) to its front line by acquiring 6'11" center Chris Dudley from Portland in a three-way trade that sent forward John Wallace to Toronto. The NBA objected to the deal, claiming that it circumvented salary-cap rules, but an arbitrator ruled against the league on Sept. 7.

New York sports fans expect a lot from their teams, and the Knicks expect a lot from themselves. They won't be happy with anything less than the Eastern Conference crown this season. But unless they control their emotions and play as hard against weak teams as they do against strong ones, they may find themselves disappointed once again.      

—Lars Anderson