As Nets senior vice president, Willis Reed saw nearly all Keith Van Horn's games at the Meadowlands, and saw every game of the Nets' first playoff run to the Finals in 2002.

That's why Reed, now the Knicks' special basketball adviser, can't understand how the newest Knick has earned a reputation as a playoff choker.

"The Nets go all the way to the championship round and most of the games he played well in, they won," Reed told The Post from Utah, where the Knicks' summer league team finished its two-week run. "When he didn't play well, we didn't win. He had a bad Finals [against the Lakers], but everyone did. He was the key reason they got to where they did. I thought he was significant in that team getting to the Finals for the first time."

When Kenyon Martin ripped Van Horn after the Laker sweep, too much blame was heaped on the 6-10 forward. It's no wonder Van Horn admitted Thursday he was happy the Spurs beat the Nets last month, with Martin awful in the clincher.

Van Horn's scoring in the playoffs last spring with Philly dipped from 15.9 to 10.4 in the Sixers' two rounds. His rebounding went up, though, from 7.1 to 7.5. Van Horn had a poor-shooting series against Detroit, but Sixers coach Larry Brown took the blame, saying he featured Allen Iverson too much in the offense all year.

The larger concerns are Van Horn's man-to-man defense in defending the small-forward position against quicker players. Reed chuckles.

"There aren't a lot of great defensive players in this league," Reed said. "Most guys get drafted because they play offense. That's what he does well. Just do that and we're going to have to work on the things. He's a guy you have to worry about guarding, too."

Yes, Reed liked the Van Horn/Latrell Sprewell exchange because he felt the Knicks no longer could get away with being undersized at all three frontcourt positions. Two straight lottery berths proved that. Sprewell's shrimpy Knicks haven't won a playoff series since the 1999-2000 season.