By WILLIAM C. RHODEN

Coaches always talk about victory going to the team that "wants it more." But what happens when two teams of equal strength, equal desire -- and who are equally hungry for victory -- meet in the final game of a close series?

We're about to find out. After a nine-month climb up the steepest of mountains, the Houston Rockets and New York Knicks will play for the National Basketball Association championship. The hopes, aspirations and even the pride of two cities has come down to a seventh and deciding game between two teams who have weathered criticism and earned grudging, but new-found respect. Houston has proven to be a lot tougher physically than everyone thought; the Knicks a more ingenious team than many imagined.

So now the National Basketball Association championship comes down to a test of wills. Who wants it more?

Knicks Coach Pat Riley said: "Both teams want it desperately. It's really not about who wants it more than somebody else. It's who is in position, who makes the plays."

Charles Oakley said the team that wants it the most will leave the most of itself on the floor. "You don't want to say after the game 'I should have done this,' or 'I should have done that.' It's the seventh game, you want to leave it on the court."

But after practice one day, Derek Harper, the Knicks' veteran point guard, suggested that the series may go not to which team wanted it more but to the team that deserves it.

"I'll go out on a limb and say that this basketball team deserves it more," he said. "We have guys on our team who have paid their dues, have been through the ups and downs of the N.B.A. Houston has a young basketball team; take a guy like Sam Cassell, a young player who has a lot of time to play. I think our years are numbered here as far as trying to really win a championships."

Patrick Ewing played on mediocre teams for the early part of his career. Harper was rescued from purgatory last January after 11 seasons in Dallas. Starks and Anthony Mason were saved from the horrible uncertainty of the Continental Basketball Association.

On the other hand, Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon made the finals once -- losing to Boston in 1986 -- and hasn't come close since. And for all of Harper's faith in young Sam Cassell's bright future, Cassell, born on Baltimore's East Side, knows all to well about the fragility of life. His friend, hero and fellow Dunbar High alumni, Reggie Lewis, collapsed and died in the prime of life. Like so many other young people who have witnessed dozens of murders before their 18th birthdays, the present is often more reliable than the future.

"I may not get here again," Cassell said earlier in the series.

Who wants it more, Houston or New York?

Houston desperately wants to shed its Choke City image by winning the first professional championship in the city's history. New York has seen its share of championships; now it wants to become the first city to win the hockey and basketball championships in the same year.

Before now, both teams could only smell a championship. Now they can both can see it: The trophy is in the house.

Houston quietly began preparing for a victory celebration last week and stepped up efforts after the Rockets victory on Sunday.

City officials might want to ask Rangers fans about the folly of open pre-planning. I'm not sure the fans -- and for that matter, the players -- fully understand how difficult Game 7 will be.

True, Houston, the team, has history on its side -- 19 straight seventh games have been won by the home team. But Houston, the city, has history against it, a parade of teams that approached the pinnacle of success only to wilt.

In spirit, the Knicks will enter the arena much like Mike Tyson entered the ring: no socks, no robe. Just shoes, gloves and an indomitable will.

After 106 games critics continue to lambaste the Knicks; only a victory on Wednesday will win converts.

Will these seven games be remembered as a "classic" series? Probably not. There have been no defining moments, like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hitting a sky hook with three seconds left as Milwaukee defeated Boston in double overtime of Game 6 in 1974. Or Michael Jordan's riveting performance in last year's decisive game.

All these teams have provided is quarter after quarter of hard-nosed, give it-everything-you've-got basketball. And if the game boils down to a test of wills, not blunders, New York will prevail.

"People say this is not great theater or it doesn't have the drama of other finals," Riley said, "but they're not feeling what players and coaches are feeling. There's enough drama and theater in here to last us a lifetime."

Copyright 1994 The New York Times Company