NEW YORK, May 23 (UPI) -- Chris Dudley made up for an ineffective Patrick Ewing Sunday by scoring 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter and the New York Knicks used another strong effort by their bench for a 90-78 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. The Knicks, with a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series, are one win away from a date in the conference finals with Indiana. A defensive specialist who scored only eight points in the first seven playoff contests, the 6-11 Dudley had his best game of the season. His fourth-quarter total matched his best game in two years with New York, with half those points coming in a decisive 10-0 spurt. Dudley grabbed 12 rebounds and helped limit Hawks center Dikembe Mutombo to seven points as he was part of another strong defensive performance. ``In the second half, I was able to beat him to the boards to get the rebounds,'' Dudley said. ``On offense, my teammates were all hitting me with very good passes. ``With Mutombo, we try to stop him from getting his momentum going across the middle. I just try to crowd him and not let him get inside, make him take the hook shot from far out or go baseline.'' The 7-2 Mutombo grabbed 16 rebounds but made just two of seven shots. After allowing Steve Smith to score 17 points in the first half, the Knicks held him scoreless in the second half. Atlanta had only 11 points in the third quarter and was stuck in the 70s for the second straight game. Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell scored 17 points apiece for the eighth-seeded Knicks. Since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams in 1984, no No. 8 seed team has won two playoff series. Houston bounced back from a poor Game 2 and is averaging 17.7 points per game in the series. Sprewell was unable to match his 31-point explosions in each of the first two games but still is averaging a team- leading 26.3 points off the bench. ``We're just playing well,'' Sprewell said. ``We have some guys who can come in off the bench and play some quality minutes. When you do that, you really give the team a spark.'' The Knicks also got another boost from reserve forward Marcus Camby. With the ailing Ewing just 2 of 12 from the field, Camby scored 15 points and blocked three shots, teaming with Dudley to provide frontcourt force. ``I think the team as a whole is more comfortable and everyone has gotten into their roles,'' Dudley said. ``It's just fortunate we were able to come into our roles before the season ended.'' In the series, New York's bench has outscored Atlanta's, 130-76, including 46-22 Sunday. ``They are all making sacrifices to come off the bench,'' Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy said. ``They have all started in this league before and I appreciate the sacrifice that they are making. Everybody wants to start and play but to win in this league you have to have a quality bench.'' ``When you are winning, it does not feel like much of a sacrifice (to come off the bench),'' Dudley said. ``All of us have started in this league but we're enjoying our roles in helping this team win. That's what's important.'' Grant Long also scored 17 points for the Hawks, who shot just 31 percent from the field and fell to 0-3 on the road in the postseason. Atlanta is the only pre-existing team that has failed to reach the conference finals since the NBA split into conferences in 1970. ``One problem we've had this whole series is that we have not shot the ball well,'' Hawks coach Lenny Wilkens said. ``And when we don't shoot well, our defense seems to bog down a little bit. It's hard to win a series shooting in the 30s, I mean the low 30s.'' The Hawks scored the final four points of the third period and a free throw by Long 30 seconds into the fourth quarter cut the deficit to 66- 58. But a follow dunk by Dudley triggered the run that gave the Knicks control.  