Calling the Knicks a "sick patient," new boss Isiah Thomas promised yesterday that Tuesday night's humiliating Latrell Sprewell episode will never happen again under his watch at the Garden.
In his first show of leadership, Thomas vowed to make this team tougher ? physically and mentally. Sprewell yesterday was fined $25,000 by the NBA, which is $15,000 more than he was docked in November 1999 for his cursing spree upon returning to Golden State.

Ticked off that Sprewell taunted, cursed and humiliated owner James Dolan without any retribution from a Knicks player Tuesday, Thomas made this Christmas Eve declaration:

"Something happened in our house [Tuesday] night that I hope won't happen again. I look at what went on in our house, it was something that won't ever happen again. Right now, we're down. Sometimes people kick you when you're down. We've got to stand up and we will stand up."