NEW YORK, May 24 (AFP) - The New York Knicks routed the Atlanta Hawks 79-66 here Monday to complete a four-game sweep and become the first eighth-seeded team in National Basketball Association playoff history to reach the conference finals. Allan Houston scored 19 points and Patrick Ewing added 17 as the red-hot Knicks won at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks won Game Five against the top-seeded Miami Heat to close out the first round and then embarrassed the fourth-seeded Hawks, who never hit their stride in the series. New York's five-game postseason run matches the longest in club history. Steve Smith scored 14 points for Atlanta, which shot just over 30 percent for the series. The Hawks missed 16 consecutive shots and went scoreless for well over 11 minutes as the Knicks opened a 77-53 bulge during a stretch that spanned the third and fourth quarters. New York will face Indiana in the conference finals in a rematch of their 1994 series, which the Knicks won in seven games to advance to the NBA Finals, in which they fell to the Houston Rockets. The teams will be meeting in the postseason for the fifth time this decade, with Game One slated for Market Square Arena in Indianapolis on Sunday. Latrell Sprewell capped a stellar series with 11 points off the bench for the Knicks, who posted their first four-game sweep since eliminating the Baltimore Bullets in 1969. After struggling to secure a playoff spot during the lockout-shortened regular season, New York appears to have saved its best for last. The Knicks have won seven of their last eight home games, including the regular season. Atlanta dropped to 0-4 on the road in the playoffs and has not won a postseason game outside of Georgia since Game Two of the 1997 Eastern Confernce semi-finals against Chicago. Dikembe Mutombo, who guaranteed victory for the Hawks prior to the series, had 11 points and 11 rebounds as Atlanta suffered its first four-game sweep since 1970. An otherwise great day for the Knicks organization was marred slightly when team president and general manager Dave Checketts admitted at an afternoon press conference that he had looked into the possibility of hiring former Chicago coach Phil Jackson. He denied such reports earlier. Madison Square Garden fans voiced their support for current Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy by chanting his name over during the final moments of the game.  