Allan Houston, Glen Rice and Latrell Sprewell led the Knicks to a convincing 104-82 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, but Camby spoiled the day when he attempted to attack Danny Ferry with a wild roundhouse right but instead injured his own coach.
With the Knicks putting the finishing touches on a blowout, Camby took exception to an errant elbow by Ferry to the face. While the referee tried to calm Camby, the Knicks center charged Ferry, who was near the scorer's table at midcourt, and unleashed a right hand.
Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy attempted to intercede, but absorbed the brunt of the blow. As Camby swung wildly and missed, he banged heads with Van Gundy, who fell to the court under the scorer's table bleeding profusely. Van Gundy was helped to his feet and covered the left side of his head with a towel as he walked off the court.
Marcus Camby throws a punch at Danny Ferry, but clocks Jeff Van Gundy, who needed 15 stitches.(AP Photo/MSG)
Stitches were required, forcing Van Gundy to skip his postgame news conference.
The status of Camby is another story. He was ejected from the game and appears to be facing a long suspension for his actions.
Along with dampening his team's impressive win, Camby overshadowed his own stellar defensive play against Spurs center David Robinson. He had six blocks and Robinson hit just 1-of-11 shots from the field, finishing with two points.
Houston scored 19 of his 31 points in the first half when the Knicks opened a 54-39 lead.
Rice had 20 points and Sprewell added 19 for the Knicks, who won for the ninth time in their last 10 games, completed a series sweep of the Spurs and improved to 13-2 on Martin Luther King Day. The most memorable of those came in January 1990 when Trent Tucker hit a winning basket with one-tenth of a second left against Chicago.
Unfortunately, this one will be remembered for Camby's inexplicable swing and not for New York's sterling performance against another Western Conference power.
Two days after ending Portland's 10-game winning streak, the Knicks were too quick for San Antonio from the perimeter and successfully bottled up Robinson and Tim Duncan inside.
Duncan had 14 points and 10 rebounds, none off the offensive boards, and missed all seven of his free throw attempts.
Meanwhile, behind Houston, Rice and Sprewell, the Knicks shot 55 percent from the field. Houston converted 11-of-20 shots, including three 3-pointers. Rice was 8-of-13 and Sprewell hit 9-of-13 shots.
The Spurs, who were without starters Sean Elliott and Avery Johnson and key reserve Malik Rose, shot just 39 percent from the field.
Houston scored 11 of his points in the first quarter and started the second with a 3-pointer and a basket, giving the Knicks a 27-19 lead.
Rice scored 10 of New York's next 12 points, but the Spurs pulled within 39-34 on a jumper by Duncan with 4:25 to play in the half. But the Knicks scored the next six points on a corner jumper and a layup by Sprewell and a dunk by Camby, increasing the lead to 45-34.
After Derek Anderson converted a 3-pointer for San Antonio, Houston answered with a 3-pointer to restore New York's 11-point lead. Duncan scored inside, but the Knicks closed the half with a pair of baskets by Kurt Thomas and a jumper by Sprewell.
Larry Johnson and Sprewell started the second half with baskets, opening a 58-39 lead.
The Spurs pulled no closer than 14 the rest of the way.
A 3-pointer by Charlie Ward started a 13-3 run to close the quarter, giving New York a commanding 85-61 lead.
New York led by as many as 24 points on two occasions in the fourth quarter.
The loss ended a 2-2 road trip for the Spurs.
Ira Newble and Antonio Daniels each scored 14 for San Antonio.
