Halfway Between Early And Middle

Going to use the government-issued city + nickname in tandem a few times; I really can’t believe this either.

It’s lost some novelty, but the thought is no shorter on veracity: New York City is never better than a) early summer, overall, and b) when one of the teams that plays at that time is still playing at that time[1]. Watching the Indiana Pacers complete a demonstrative victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers signified that anything was possible, right?

After the injury to Jayson Tatum and subsequent Luke Kornet Revenge Game, it didn’t seem likely that Boston could roll that again this series; in delivering a 119-81 victory at home against the defending champion Celtics, the New York Knicks – yup! – are putting it all together at exactly the right time[2].

Full-stop, this is the best that it has ever felt to be a Knicks fan in my adulthood. Getting into the New York Knicks in, let’s say, 2003 or so – see footnote 2 – would not be the strategic move I’d advise of any lifeform short of Literally Henry Kissinger, in whose repulsion at the very idea of the double-technical foul I would delight.

(Jesse Gemstone voice) Alas: that guy’s dead. Let’s talk about some other stuff that is also good, too.

The NEW. YORK. KNICKS!!! are going to the conference finals for the first time since 2000! Jalen Brunson stared straight up at a bunch of people much taller than he, introduced a few of them to Mitchell Robinson and dismissed the rest.

At 16-16 in the first quarter, it looked like it might be the end. Kristaps Porzingis was hitting, Al Horford had been moving effectively, Jaylen Brown was putting in the necessary work, and even after an OG Anunoby dunk to go up two, the omnipresent feeling that Joe Mazzulla had something going – an idea, a dry run from practice, a literal ear to God and/or the Chicago Pope[3] – persisted.

To his immense credit, Karl-Anthony Towns persisted as well. Following a pair of free throws to end the quarter, the Knicks were up 26-20. Shortly thereafter in the second, KAT hit a layup off of a Robinson takeaway on the other end to put the Knicks up by thirteen.

Even as Deuce McBride poured in timely jumper after timely jumper, it didn’t start to feel like the Knicks really had it all the way together until –

until —

until?

Until something like 84-51 with three minutes and change left in the third quarter. At that point, I thought, maybe. Maybe this team can finally align on strategic initiatives.

Toward the end of the third and through the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, along with every other Knicks fan paying anything like close attention to the game, I wondered what Tom Thibodeau’s minutes distribution was going to look like. Primarily: what about let’s say we go ahead and get Jalen Brunson out of the game? Maybe a Josh Hart or Mikal Bridges too?

Finally, up 104-68 and with EIGHT AND A HALF MINUTES left in the fourth quarter, Thibs pulled New York’s diminutive protagonist; Anunoby, Bridges and Towns remained a few minutes longer than the many and proud among us would’ve preferred, but no matter.

The New York Knicks – them, those ones – have defeated the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics, four games to two, to move onto the Eastern Conference Finals. Somebody check in on Rolando Blackman, and somebody else buy Renaldo Balkman some ice cream.

---

[1] Or starting to play at that time, which: go Liberty for the repeat.

[2] Look: the last time the Knicks were in the conference finals, I was a junior Hornet and, for all intents and purposes, a Charlotte Hornets fan . Maybe I still harbored name recognition love for Larry Johnson, but I did not care about the Knicks until [REDACTED, BUT IT CONCERNS A SHINN, G.].

[3] Why would he give him any tips, though? Chicago Pope went to Villanova: we all know.