"We need to get that fire back," guard Lucious Harris said.
"The 3-point line kind of brought back guard play, and now guard play is dominating the game," Lavin said.
"I thought we were beyond that as a team, making mental mistakes, the penalties and things like that that held us back," guard Glenn Parker said.
The victory snapped a six-game losing streak for the Knicks (8-16), who also welcomed back guard Allan Houston (15 points), who had missed four games with a sore right knee.
Only two starters are back, guard Abbey Arnold (5-7), and center Lauren Halsted (5-11).
Three starters are back: guard Eurskine Robinson, forward Philipp Czernin and center Vejas Anaya.
Just as important the Blue Devils get back guard Monique Currie who missed last season because of a torn knee ligament.
"We rode Shaq's back," guard Ron Harper said of O'Neal, who scored 41 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, blocked four shots and was the unanimous winner of the finals most-valuable-player award, following his MVP for the regular season.
The walkers are packaged in boxes labeled "Baby Hand's," and "Comfortable pad made of TC cloth, with front and back guard". Stores in California, Arizona and Texas sold the walkers from January 1998 until this month for $18 to $22.
Questions remain concerning the presence of atrophy in pain free patients, which could for instance be influenced by the duration of pain preceding the disc surgery, or by back guarding to prevent recurrent LBP.
