JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The last time the New York Knicks swept a playoff opponent in four games, they were a season away from their first NBA title and the first Woodstock had not yet happened. Tonight, they made easy work of the Atlanta Hawks in Game Four of their Eastern Conference semifinal series to become the first No. 8 seed in league history to advance to the conference finals. Allan Houston scored 12 of his 19 points in the first half as New York pulled away early and never looked back in a 79-66 dismantling of the shooting-challenged Atlanta Hawks. Next up for the suddenly red-hot Knicks are nemesis Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers -- the team that eliminated them last season -- in a rematch of the 1994 East finals. "(The Pacers) are the best team left," New York coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "They are a great team and they haven't lost. They have handled themselves well at home and on the road. They have a great point guard (Mark Jackson), great shooting, post defense and they're really starting to rebound the ball. That about takes care of it. We're going to have to be much better than we were (against them) in the regular season." Posting their season-high fifth win of the season, the Knicks completed their first four-game sweep since April 1969, when Willis Reed and Walt "Clyde" Frazier embarrassed future teammate Earl Monroe and the Baltimore Bullets. Those three players would combine to bring the Knicks their only two world titles in 1970 and 1973. Atlanta, which shot 30 percent tonight and just better than that for the series, was swept in four games for the first time since 1970, when the Los Angeles Lakers bounced them in the Western Division finals. Latrell Sprewell managed just 11 points in Game Four, but his 26.3-point average over the first three games combined with his ability to get to the free-throw line and his dazzling play in the open court have given the Knicks a different look. "The Knicks ran a lot in this series," Atlanta guard Steve Smith said after a woeful 20-of-74 shooting performance in the series. "This was the first time they played this way. Usually with us it was the old pound it up and walk it up. They got a lot of fastbreaks and easy baskets. I thought that was the difference." The Knicks joined the Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs, who also swept their respective conference semifinal series on Sunday. New York's five-game postseason streak matches its longest ever. The Pacers, undefeated in the playoffs, knocked off the Philadelphia 76ers, 89-86, in the Eastern Conference, while the Spurs eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers, 118-107. Indiana defeated the Knicks in five games in last season's semifinals and eliminated them in seven in 1995 in a series infamous for Patrick Ewing's missed layup at the buzzer. The Knicks did post a first-round ouster of the Pacers in 1993 and won a thrilling seven-game conference final from them in 1994. "I'm aware of the rivalry," Sprwell said. "I know it's going to be tough, a lot tougher than the Miami series. This is why we play. If you can't get up for the challenge of the Garden and try and get wins so you can get to the Finals, then you don't need to be playing." The Portland Trail Blazers can clinch their first trip to the conference finals since 1992 when they visit the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center, where they won Game Two, on Tuesday for Game Five. Utah has participated in the Western Conference finals in each of the past three seasons and reached the NBA finals the last two, losing to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls both times.  