SPORTSTICKER NBA PLAYOFF PREVIEW (ATLANTA-NEW YORK) Atlanta at New York 3:00 pm EDT NEW YORK (Ticker) -- The New York Knicks look to put a stranglehold on their Eastern Conference semifinal series this afternoon when they host the Atlanta Hawks in Game Three at Madison Square Garden. Latrell Sprewell scored 31 points for the second straight game as the Knicks rolled to a 77-70 victory at the Georgia Dome on Thursday to take a commanding 2-0 series lead. New York is 18-2 all-time when winning the first two games of a playoff series. The Knicks have not blown a 2-0 advantage since 1993 when Chicago stormed back to win the final four games of the conference finals. The Hawks have dropped the first two games of a postseason series 14 previous times and have never recovered from that deficit. Steve Smith, the Hawks' leading scorer during the regular season and usually a thorn in the Knicks' side, was stone cold from the floor in Game Two. He scored nine points on 2-of-16 shooting as Atlanta shot 30 percent. "There's only one way (to go) -- up," Smith said. "We can shoot better than this. You have to let it go and know it's a seven-game series and look at the tape and see what you did wrong. Both teams played defense. You see the score, it's pretty much a Knicks-Atlanta game. Unfortunately for us, they played a little bit better." Sprewell played more than "a little bit better" than his backcourt mate Allan Houston in Game Two. Houston, who had a game-high 34 points in New York's 100-92 win in Game One, was 1-of-8 and scored just two points on Thursday. But Sprewell more than compensated for Houston's poor night, sinking half of his 16 shots and going 15-of-19 at the line. "We got a win, that's all that matters," Houston said. "I wasn't hitting shots, so I was doing whatever I could to do something out there." Patrick Ewing scored 12 points and Marcus Camby gave New York a spark off the bench with 11 and 13 rebounds. Ewing, hampered by an aching Achilles tendon and a strained rib, logged 37 minutes but was limping noticeably throughout the contest. Ewing's fellow Georgetown alumnus, Dikembe Mutombo, had eight points and 17 rebounds for the Hawks, who posted an 80-71 victory in their only visit to the Garden this season on March 22. Game Four will be here on Monday.  