Nba Suspends Five Knicks, Heat’s Brown

The harshest penalty in NBA playoff history left the New York Knicks crying foul.

Five Knicks were suspended Thursday, three for today’s game and two for Sunday’s, and P.J. Brown of the Miami Heat drew a two-game penalty for a melee during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Patrick Ewing, Allan Houston, Larry Johnson, John Starks and Charlie Ward each were suspended one game. Only Ewing, Houston and Ward must sit out Game 6 tonight. Johnson and Starks will miss Sunday’s game - either Game 7 at Miami or Game 1 of the conference finals against the Chicago Bulls.

NBA rules stipulate teams must have nine players in uniform for playoff games, and that’s why only three of the five suspended Knicks will miss Game 6.

Ward must sit out immediately because he was one of the principals in the fight. Ewing and Houston will sit out Game 6 because the NBA uses an alphabetical system when numerous players are suspended.

Brown was suspended for two games, meaning his season is over unless the Heat can overcome their 3-2 deficit in the best-of-7 series.

“If Dennis Rodman had done that, the suspension wouldn’t have been two games. That was Rodmanesque what he did,” Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy said of Brown, who grabbed Ward and flipped him over after Ward lunged at his legs while going for a rebound.

The penalty will have an effect on the outcome of the series, and New York may be hurt the most.

The Knicks will have to replace their two leading scorers - All-Star center Ewing (20.8 points a game) and Houston (18.5) - in Game 6. Buck Williams will probably replace Ewing, and Starks will start in place of Houston.

They’re Wiz Kids now

The Washington Bullets became the Washington Wizards, committing to history a nickname that had served the franchise since 1963.

The team also unveiled new logos and colors of black, bronze and blue that will replace its old colors of red, white and blue.

The changes, which come as the team moves into the new MCI Center in downtown Washington next season, ends an odyssey that had the National Basketball Association franchise and a comedy basketball team fighting over the name in court.

The team became the Bullets in 1963 when the Chicago Zephyrs moved to Baltimore and named themselves after a team that played during the 1940s. That team was named after the city’s wartime ammunition factory. The Baltimore Bullets moved to Landover, Md., in 1973 and became the Capital Bullets, then changed the name to the Washington Bullets in 1974.

The franchise is changing its name as part of an antiviolence campaign, team owner Abe Polin said.

Laker dispute seems resolved

The Nick Van Exel-Del Harris feud that in many ways overshadowed the Los Angeles Lakers’ exit from the playoffs apparently got its resolution.

During a brief but sometimes emotional meeting at the Forum, Van Exel told Harris and Jerry West he can indeed coexist with his coach and wants to play in Los Angeles.

It is almost certain he will. The Lakers did not want to trade him anyway, aware of the lack of available quality replacements and of Van Exel’s talent, but the point guard and team captain could have forced such a move if he had insisted his relationship with Harris was beyond repair.

Miller loses home

Firefighters trying to douse the blaze that destroyed Indiana Pacer Reggie Miller’s $2.9 million house in Fishers, Ind., were hampered by a lack of nearby fire hydrants.

Neither Miller nor his wife, Marita, were at the 14,000-square-foot home on Geist Reservoir when the fire broke out early Thursday morning.