If a picture’s worth a thousand words, the lead trackers from the first and last games the Knicks and Celtics played this season — in October and last night — are all the story you need.
nba.com
nba.com
If you’re still reading, I imagine you won’t mind soaking in a few more words on a win that sounds like the sweetest word problem in the history of math.
Jalen and his friends scored 119 points. Jaylen and his friends scored 81. By winning this game and the series, which of the following did Jalen and friends achieve?
A) The Knicks’ biggest win since Game 7 in Miami in 2000
B) Their first series-clinching win at MSG since 1999
C) Their first series win over a 60-plus win team since 1973, when they beat two, the Celtics and Lakers
D) The Knicks will host the Eastern finals for the first time since 1994. They also knocked off the defending champs for the first time since that year
E) This is the first time the Knicks have eliminated the Celtics in New York since 1951
F) All of the above
I bet you can guess the answer!
I’m not as sure — but am starting to suspect — the dethroning of the Association’s regalest royals has to be the biggest upset the Knicks have pulled off since . . . we’ll get back to that.
The Knicks beat the Celtics! Our beloved, bespoke, ill-spoke-of Knicks, the ones who didn’t defend well enough or go deep enough, who played too few too many minutes, who just weren’t good enough, faced hardwood’s Hercules head-on and left him clutching for a fig leaf. Mixed metaphors not your thing? Afraid you’ve jumped out of the frying pan without a paddle, friend — we’re as mixed up as the Knicks and Celtics. It’s like the cat said: we’re all mad here, else we wouldn’t be here.
Consider: this series started less than two weeks ago. Doesn’t it seem longer? The Knicks were coming off a commercially popular series win over the Pistons whose critical reviews were mixed at best. Nobody and I mean nobody had the Knicks even lasting six games this round, much less winning in that many.
Meanwhile, the Celtics weren’t just another 61-win team; they were the defending champs, built to withstand the new apron-heavy collective bargaining rules well enough for multiple more title runs. This is a franchise lauded for everything they do. Brad Stevens is Siddhartha. Joe Mazzulla has his players practice in Timbs so the games will seem that much easier. Jaylen Brown is so terrifyingly good entire Olympic committees conspire against him. They feature two players from the old Jeff Hornacek Knick teams and are still this good. And the Knicks beat them anyway.
And they did it right last night: they got up big early and never let up. Only way they could have lost would have been to let the Celtics hang around a while. They never did. They beat them in every way possible. Dominated the glass. More assists. Fewer turnovers. Outscored the Cs by 12 at the line, 12 behind the arc and 14 inside it. If there were 4-pointers the Knicks would have won by 50.
There are wins and then there are statement wins, and the manner and magnitude of this miracle made manifest certainly made a statement. New York makes its return to the big time having not merely evicted the champs, but eviscerated them. Even left one comparing it to dying.
All season there were doubts, particularly after the 0-10 facet began reflecting more of the national attention. The wins over Detroit only seemed to exacerbate the worst fears — Thibs burned out his guys in the regular-season again; they don’t have another gear to go to and now they’re in trouble. Tobias Harris called them soft. Tobias Harris.
The Knicks won in Boston in a Game 1 dismissed by many as a fluke. So they went out and did it all over again in Game 2 just to prove the first weren’t no fluke, and still all the talk after was what the Celtics didn’t do, usually do, would do again. Why just a glitch in the machine, those Knick Ws! Once the Cs’ 3s started splashing, all that nonsense settles and it’s smooth sailing straight ahead.
Imagine being on the Titanic as it’s sinking thinking the iceberg’s a glitch.
The Knicks were the iceberg, and with no Jayson Tatum the Celtic shot selection took on too much randomness, guys taking shots they had to rather than the looks their offense is designed to create. On the other end, Jalen Brunson looked positively springy, more feline than in months. Karl-Anthony Towns played like he knew he was the biggest man on the floor. If you’re still worried about who the Nets are going to pick 28th in 2029, I can’t help you and I’m sorry you’re missing out on Mikal Bridges.
I’m speechless. Patterns and precedent are my mother tongues, and because the Knicks have stunk for so much of my time covering them I often look for parallels between events happening now and since I started following this team in 1990. Creating consistency gives me grounding. So know that I’ve thought about this for more than a little bit before concluding I’ve never seen what I’m seeing now.
I think winning this series is probably the biggest upset in Knick history. The ‘99 Heat were a 1-seed in name only; by then Knicks/Heat games were their own sport, the records irrelevant. Wanna say the ‘98 Heat? Maybe. But even with Patrick Ewing out for that series, Miami was never seen as superior, not to anyone who followed the teams.
But what came to a head last night? The Knicks consistently outplaying a team who more people — including Knicks fans — would have picked to sweep this series than lose it? I’ve never seen this team do what they’re doing. I knew it was possible. I just didn’t think it would happen.
It has, so enjoy it. Those who laughed at your hope and your faith are exposed as the fools you’ve long suspected. All those years as a fan where you knew the odds were against your team, yet you’d seen enough to know there was something special there, something secret and sacred that only you could see because only you believed hard enough — and your team didn’t justify your belief? Never justifies that belief? These Knicks do.
The Celtics are done, gone, and may a house fall on top of them and their ruby slippers for good measure. The Pacers await. If the Nuggets beat the Thunder Sunday, the Knicks will have homecourt the rest of the playoffs. The Knicks are in the ECF. THE KNICKS ARE IN THE ECF!!!!!!!!!