Momentum Runs Over to Knicks : NBA finals: New York dominates boards and gets even with Rockets, 91-82, despite Olajuwon’s big game.

NEW YORK — The Garden party stretched from Tuesday into Wednesday and from hockey into basketball, all the way to that halftime collision of the sports when the Rangers’ Mark Messier walked the Stanley Cup on to the court. The crowd roared, then turned its attention back to the matter at hand, the Knicks.

Oh, yeah. The NBA finals. No longer an undercard in their own building, the pressure to win suddenly fell to the Knicks, who in turn survived Hakeem Olajuwon’s first real fourth-quarter appearance to beat the Houston Rockets, 91-82, in Game 4 before 19,763 at Madison Square Garden and even the series.

The dangers a Knick setback would present were obvious: Lose and be one game away from elimination with three to play, two in Houston. Olajuwon heaped it on the other day by saying going down 3-1 would “demoralize their confidence” and that the Knicks would “choke” from there.

Against that backdrop, from which they have flourished before, the Knicks responded again. Charles Oakley had 20 rebounds, nine on offense, and 16 points. Derek Harper scored 21 points and made five three-pointers, one away from the finals record shared by Michael Cooper, Bill Laimbeer and Michael Jordan. Patrick Ewing had 16 points and 15 rebounds.

Most of all, they rebounded from the Game 3 loss here because they rebounded, dominating the Rockets on the boards, 50-33. That included a 21-7 margin on the offensive end.

“I think the deciding factor in this game was rebounding,” Rocket Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. “We knew coming into this series that they were the No. 1 rebounding team in the league. The first three games, we did a good job in that area. Tonight, it was like they just wanted it more. But being down 21-7 on the offensive boards, it was sort of amazing we were even in the basketball game.”

They were more than in it. Recovering from a 17-2 start, the Rockets had earned a 72-72 tie.

Then Ewing scored from the lane, John Starks made one free throw and Oakley made two from the line. The Knicks were suddenly up by five. Olajuwon responded with a short fallaway to cut the deficit to 77-74, part of his 14 points in the fourth quarter after coming in with only two field goals combined in the final quarters of the first three games, and Houston seemed in great position to get closer when Ewing missed both free throws with 3:54 remaining.

One problem. Oakley.

Playing despite a sprained ankle and a sore heel, he controlled the offensive rebound enough to tip it out to Starks, who converted Oakley’s hustle into a three-pointer from the right side that built the lead back to five. It was the turning point.

“Oak is the heart and soul of the basketball team,” said Starks, who finished with 20 points. “He was playing on a bad ankle, but he didn’t let it affect his game. He was still doing a number on the boards. We don’t want to let him down, knowing he’s out there giving it his all.”

They didn’t. But just to make sure, when the Rockets got within 82-78 on a basket and subsequent free throw from Carl Herrera with 2:50 to go, Starks answered with another three-pointer from the right side. That seven-point advantage proved insurmountable, even with Ewing fouling out with 1:13 left and Olajuwon powering his way to a game-high 32 points and five blocked shots, though the regular-season most valuable player had only eight rebounds and none on offense.

No demoralizing situations here, and any choke will have to wait. The Knicks had earned, at the very least, a trip back to the Summit, where they split the first two games of the series, and the opportunity to take a lead along as carry-on baggage.

“It’s up to us to create that momentum,” Starks said. “We can do that come Friday.”

NBA Notes

The Rockets played most of the final 15:25 without starting small forward Robert Horry, who suffered a bruised wrist and hand and bruised lower back after a flagrant foul by Anthony Mason under the basket late in the third quarter. Horry came out and tried to return in the fourth quarter, but lasted only 44 seconds before leaving again, this time for good. He is scheduled to have X-rays today. “The pain was so terrible, I thought something must be broken,” he said. . . . Houston’s 14 first-quarter points were one above the finals record for fewest in an opening quarter, set by Ft. Wayne in 1955 and matched by Milwaukee in 1974. The 33 first-half points were three away from the record, set by the Rockets in 1981. . . . Pat Riley solved his problem on whether to use Rolando Blackman ahead of struggling Hubert Davis as the backup shooting guard. He didn’t play either. . . . The Knicks have held 21 of 22 playoff opponents to less than 100 points.

* MOVE ON HOLD: The NBA rejects a New Orleans group’s bid to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves and move the franchise. C15