NEW YORK, May 23 (AFP) - This is how well things are going for the New York Knicks: Chris Dudley scored 10 points in the fourth quarter. Dudley covered for an ineffective Patrick Ewing by scoring 10 of his 14 points in the fourth period and the Knicks used another strong effort by their bench for a 90-78 victory over the Atlanta Hawks and a commanding 3-0 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series. 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 also was part of another strong defensive performance. After allowing Steve Smith to score 17 points in the first half, the Knicks held him scoreless in the second. 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, who hold a 3-0 series lead and can advance to the conference finals for the first time since 1994 with another win at home on Monday. Since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams in 1984, no No. 8 seed team has won two playoff series.  