Where Is My Mind

There was no foreseeable way this would keep up, and indeed, the cracks are beginning to show. However: every other night in New York City, you can expect to catch a competitor. It’s been a decade since the Knicks and Rangers were so similarly relevant that they warranted the ice-to-hardwood changeover videos of Madison Square Garden to return. 

Last Tuesday, an exhaustingly frantic game down the stretch saw the Rangers blow the lead to the Carolina Hurricanes, favored in the series. Former number one overall pick Alexis Lafrenière, previously a scapegoat who just enjoyed his best season in the NHL, scored twice, but the night’s dough was only on the rise.

The game tensely ventured toward overtime; between the first and second OTs, our dad, who simply decided he’d had enough, went to bed. Going to bed is his peace; if only we could be so lucky. On we went, instead, to playoff double-overtime.

After snaking in the winner to go up 2-0, Vincent Trocheck made the rounds on various hockey-adjacent socials; by now, you’ve seen his face if you’re at all interested in a) the NHL, b) the New York Rangers, c) searching “Met Gala beards” or d) “watching the h-bomb without sunnies.” 

In the same arena, the Knicks have wreaked havoc in the specific forms of foul evasion and receipt, Jalen Brunson having ridden a [REDACTED]-esque line of four straight 40-point games. In adding five assists each time – charitably assessed, in some cases, with apology to his teammates’ attempts at cutting inside or to space – he set a league record for 40-point, five-assist playoff games in between winning a series in six games against the Philadelphia 76ers and going up two games to none against the Indiana Pacers. The streak is dead, and the Knicks’ luck may be running dry, but: no matter. This is as good as it’s ever been.

Leave the city, leave the zoo

A worrying number of the Knicks’ most important players are out or have recently been, including Brunson, who missed most of the first half of Game 2 with a foot injury before returning in the second half, invoking Willis Reed 54 years to the day after the fact. OG Anunoby, who has stepped up brilliantly on both ends but missed Games 3 and 4 and is likely out for at least another.

Tom Thibodeau pulling midseason re-acquisition Alec Burks off the bench was an inspired and likely necessary move; Burks has hit a couple of threes in both of the last two games and played disruptive, if a touch (understandably) rusty, defense before heading to the bench, usually in exchange for Deuce McBride.

Not McBride, nor Burks, nor wind, nor rain was going to stop the Indiana Pacers’ offensive machine on Friday night. Tyrese Haliburton showed no hesitancy in penetrating, drawing doubles nor breaking traps in Game 3.

That ended up being the perfect time for Pascal Siakam to remember he has a championship ring. Siakam, a midseason acquisition from the Toronto Raptors and the last remnant of their 2019 title team, carried a heavy playmaking load down the stretch before – of course – Andrew Nembhard hit what would be a game-winning three.

Trying to focus on the saying that no series begins until the home team loses

The Rangers have since gone on to win another overtime game – why watch overtime playoff hockey when you can simply snort coke and ride a motorcycle out of a helicopter, etc. – but lost another in regulation, 4-3, but they remain up 3-1 on the Canes[1].

Igor Shesterkin has transcended himself to become a platonic ideal warrior and/or the Zen butterfly and one true successor of The King, such that when he surrenders three goals in a playoff game, we are still inclined to defer to him as the early Conn Smythe favorite[2].

Not Worrying About The Rangers Until I’m Worrying About The Rangers

Jalen Brunson, in a similar boat in importance to his team, has missed a few more free throws in crunch time than Knicks fans might prefer, in addition to the reverberating turnover numbers he carries as the primary ballhandler. Nembhard instantly rebuked his clutch three down the stretch in Game 3; you can slam your glass on the table only once.

Both of these teams are aces as special teams – to the Rangers, it means power plays and shorthanded goals; to the Knicks, it means getting to the line and hitting the ground running on transition opportunities. 

I took a walk when the infirmary-ridden Knicks were down 28 at halftime on Sunday afternoon in a game they eventually lost by 32 points, allowing the Pacers to tie the series at two games apiece. Most title-winning teams aren’t so entirely dominant as to be assumed champions, and so most involve some health luck. Joel Embiid helped carry the Sixers to six games in the first round on one leg; they’re all out here hurting.

With Anunoby’s absence announced before Game 4, the Knicks’ hospital bill might finally be coming due. Julius Randle’s absence mostly manifests in Obi Toppin’s emergence, both in what he is doing to the Knicks on both ends of the floor and in what is missing from their lineup after having traded him. Mitchell Robinson’s contributions to winning the first round against the Sixers have been rewarded with a season-ending left ankle injury. Bojan Bogdanović, already gone. 

The sustainability of any of this is highly in question, at least most immediately for the Knicks, but I don’t and can’t particularly care; the weather’s getting better, and every other night in New York, the city is – in an election year, no less – collectively putting its faith into something.

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[1] I also assume we’re all about to find out where the Staal brothers’ various loyalties lie, their dried blood on skates and sticks rotting across the entirety of this series.

[2] (I’m not linking to any betting sites, but: he still is among the top choices after giving up four in Game 4, with good reason).