Knick Knocks

  There is no way to describe what happened between the Indiana Pacers and  New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. What happened was incomprehensible, buoying one fan base that figured it was done while devastating the home fans by snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. 

I watched almost the entire game. Remember, I was raised a Knicks fan and saw my first NBA game at Madison Square Garden—the one located at Eight Avenue and 49th Street—after having watched the NBA games broadcast in the New York Metropolitan Area from locales such as Rochester and Syracuse, New York; Cincinnati, Ohio; St. Louis, Missouri; and when the Lakes were still in Minneapolis and the Warriors lived in Philadelphia. 

When the TNT cameras scanned the luminaries attending the game, it was Knicks royalty mingling with the stars. Walt “Clyde” Frazier, “Dollar” Bill Bradley, Bernard King, John Starks and Patrick Ewing were there representing Knicks championship teams and the ones which weren’t so lucky. Larry David and Jon Hamm were there—Hamm grabbed a ball that was headed out-of-bounds before Pacers’ star Tyrese Halliburton could try to make a play to keep it inbounds. Halliburton’s cries to the referees were to no avail. 

This was a big deal to New York Knicks fans. Like Giants, Jets, Mets and Rangers fans, many of them sharing loyalties, these fans feel left out compared to their brethren in Boston, Los Angeles, the Bay Area and other places where championships have been won in bunches and far more recently. The Garden crowd embodied the wishes of those watching and who could not afford a ridiculously priced ticket as well as those attending a rooting party in the alleyway adjacent to MSG and Penn Station. 

For much of the game, the Knicks toyed with Indiana. Bursts of energy resulted in building leads which looked solid. Except, as we have seen during this season’s playoffs, no lead is secure; both the Pacers and Knicks were beneficiaries of multiple wins when they trailed by double digits. 

Still, while watching the contest, I had a feeling of happiness coupled with some honest wariness. Anything could happen and I sure didn’t want it to happen to the Knicks.

So, I watched with my wife when the Knicks looked like they could put the game away and take a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series. Four minutes left. Then three. 

But New York started to feel like they had won the game and took the pedal off the gas, milking the clock. Shooting three pointers which missed the mark. Committing turnovers to a suddenly relentless Indiana defense turned into three pointer after three pointer going in for the visitors. 

With a minute left. Indiana trailed by nine points. In over 4,000 games, a team behind by double digits and nine or more points entering the final minute of play had never won. The odds for success were staggering. 

No one told either team that this was the case. More NYK blunders became baskets or free throws for Indiana. Until all of a sudden it was Indiana threatening to take the lead and the Knicks were struggling to hold on. 

Leave it for Halliburton to take over. The most-overrated player in the NBA according to his peers was anything but that. His confidence soared—so much so that he took a step back three point shot to try to win the game. The ball bounded straight up then straight down and through the net. 

His teammates flocked around him, celebrating the wild finish. Halliburton made a choke sign, replaying what former Pacers guard Reggie Miller, who was an analyst for TNT seated court side had done to the Knicks seemingly eons ago. 

However, Haliburton’s big toe touched the three point arc. Instead of an Indiana victory, it was a tie score and overtime loomed. 

Which would prove to be a formality, as the Pacers took over from a spent Knicks team which could not recover its mojo. The Pacers stole a game on the road. The Knicks blew a win at home. They failed to protect the home court advantage. 

I was stunned and crestfallen. With my own eyes, I had seen another bit of negative NYK history. I was already feeling good, as the New York Yankees downed Texas at Yankee Stadium on a walk off home run from Jasson Dominguez. Now that would be my salvation for the night. 

I felt like a small investor in the Trump family memecoin scheme, having lost my shirt in the process. A major crime had been committed, and I was a witness to it. And Mayor Eric Adams touts that crime is down in his city. Maybe so until this unforeseen robbery occurred on Wednesday night in Midtown Manhattan. 

You heard the word “choke” applied to the Knicks. Head Coach Tom Thibodeau was excoriated for his strategies, including not using more of his bench to spell tired players. Missed free throws were another problem—NYK couldn’t afford to miss any as it turned out. 

Maybe we aren’t giving Rick Carlisle’s team enough credit. The Pacers never lost their desire to win at “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” before a hostile crowd except for the iconic Miller. The odds were nearly impossible, yet that was no matter to the brash bunch from the Midwest. Hadn’t Indiana beaten the New Yorkers in seven games last season in the Eastern Conference semi-finals?

The bad taste lingered through Thursday, aided by the negativity of the pundits and fans who were unhappy campers. It felt no better on Friday heading into the game, wondering if the Knicks were already toast and Indiana could eliminate them in four excruciating games. Watching Oklahoma City manhandle Minnesota in the Western Conference, Florida destroy Carolina and Dallas throttle Edmonton in the National Hockey League playoffs gave me little comfort that the Knicks would be resilient. 

Could NYK guard Jalen Brunson recover from the physical beating he was absorbing play after play, as Indiana wanted to make him work towards exhaustion before trying to score or force him to pass the ball to another teammate as the 24 second clock was winding down? Indiana looked younger and fresher throughout the fourth quarter and overtime. Winning would certainly boost their swagger even more, I thought. 

I tuned into the Friday night broadcast with hesitancy. For good reason. I had contemplated not watching at all, instead being content to watch the suddenly streaking Yankees demolish the woeful Colorado Rockies in the thin air at Coors Field. Something safe and not threatening to my sanity, I thought. 

I was like the person who attends a NASCAR race. You went for the excitement of the spectacle, but secretly awaited the crashes. That’s how I was—hoping for the best, but expecting the Knicks to fail miserably. Kind of like how I root for the Jets. With very low expectations. Can you blame me after the debacle I had witnessed?

When I received an email from the Knicks that NBA Finals tickets were now on sale, I wondered—did they know something I didn’t? Was this an omen? The conspiracy theorists would have a field day with that one. 

Sure enough, Indiana sprinted out to an early lead—just like in Game 1. Then both teams traded baskets and spurts. While Brunson and Karl Anthony Towns made difficult shots, they were offset by the hot shooting of Pascal Siakam of the Pacers. New York’s X-factor was big man Mitchell Robinson, who dominated the boards and displayed a spirited defense with his mates when on the floor. 

New York’s 3 point halftime lead was encouraging and at the same time there was no sense that this game was turning in the Knicks favor. Halliburton had a very low scoring half, so the knowledgeable NYK fans believed that wasn’t going to last too long in the second half. Anyway, it was time to watch the Yankees instead of the TNT halftime show so as not to focus on reality. 

Alas, Halliburton didn’t have to overachieve. That was for Siakam, who finished with 39 points. Indiana pushed their lead to 10 points, and even with a very late NYK run, held on for a second road win.

The saving grace for the Knicks is that like the Pacers, New York has only lost once this post-season away from MSG. Nonetheless, only the diehard Knicks fans see greener pastures ahead. Indiana is for real and TNT lead announcer Kevin Harlan noted that in the latter part of the season, Indiana had played like OKC, Boston and Cleveland, the top three teams in the league.

Nope, it looks bleak right now, New York fans. On top of this NYK loss, the Yankees only managed five hits, one of them a home run by Aaron Judge in losing to the Rockies, who have now won an astounding nine games this season to go along with their record 42 losses after 50 games played. 

Misery loves company, I guess. 

Gambling In Sports. Pete Rose. Synonymous. Forever.

 

Let’s start with the major story of the week. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced that the lifetime ban on Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson among others has been lifted, since Rose is now deceased and his direct involvement with the game could not be affected.

The pressure to reinstate Rose in particular was the impetus for this change of heart. There has been constant pressure from the Rose family to remove the ban while Pete was alive. The clamoring did not stop when Rose died last year. Moreover, it did not hurt that 

President Donald Trump weighed in and said he was going to pardon Rose, although it is unclear for exactly what. The President remarked on what a fine fellow Rose was and that he was being unfairly treated. 

Rose bet on baseball. He had an addiction to the game and an intensity which simply wasn’t satisfied by playing or managing. 

But in those days, gambling was totally forbidden and considered a direct stain on the integrity of the game. So then-Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti, a Yale man, thought the only punishment for these transgressions was lifetime ban. Which he imposed on Rose. 

Rose, a pariah to those who protect the sanctity of the game, tried many times to be reinstated. Each time, he was rejected, and he died a man never forgiven by baseball. 

Pete Rose was a great hitter. He holds the all-time record for base hits. His style was complete hustle, thus earning the nickname “Charlie Hustle.” He was a part of three championship teams—2 in his native Cincinnati and 1 in Philadelphia. 

If ever there was a competitor, Rose was it. He may not have had the greatest talent or foot speed. He played a multitude of positions out of a need to find a spot to play after coming to the big leagues as a second baseman. 

But his teammates wanted him with them when they competed daily and in the playoffs and World Series. Because they could count on him. 

The type of players who remind me of Rose are the Philadelphia Flyers’ Bobby Clarke and Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors. Both were leaders and played with a ferocity which resulted in championships and Green will likely be a Hall of Famer like Clarke already is.

Mike Schmidt, the Phillies’ Hall of Fame third baseman, still echoes that sentiment. New York Yankees Manager Aaron Boone has a direct perspective, having grown up with the Rose children when Boone’s father was a catcher for the Phillies; he loved his time around Rose. 

Fan reaction has been overwhelming in Cincinnati where the populace treated this like a major victory. To them it was. Conversely, Giamatti’s son and others are bitter over this sudden change, which besmirches his father’s name. 

Now understand that I think that baseball has always been hypocritical. To perpetuate this ban while actively promoting on-line gambling smelled of greed. Manfred found his way out of being in limbo that would excite the public, take the heat off him and the sport, yet give no guarantee that Rose will ever make the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

Baseball always lets the results count, no matter how tainted they are. Steroids are the great example of that—even though abusers like Alex Rodriguez received suspensions, their records count and the games go on. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and a significant number of people suspected of having enhanced their playing abilities to set records still have ties to the game, unlike Rose. 

The ultimate prize for Pete Rose is recognition for his feats. For as a human being, he was far from perfect, almost detestable in so many ways. 

Baseball still has its out in this matter. Just because Manfred granted Rose clemency does not at all mean he will be a lock to be enshrined in Cooperstown. 

Instead the decision will fall to a committee composed of a number of writers, players, and executives. In assessing Rose, 75%, or 12 of the 15 must vote in favor of enshrinement. 

How this committee is formed will largely determine Rose’s chances. If there are enough writers or others who continue to feel that he stained the integrity of baseball by his gambling and character, then Pete Rose won’t obtain absolution. 

My take is simple. If you count the games and count the records, then the player’s accomplishments should be the only factor to determine his status. Baseball selectively policed Rose and steroids, leaving Hall of Fame selection to the writers to act as the “Guardians of the Game.”

If an unsavory racist like Ty Cobb is in the Hall, Rose, and others who have plaques on the walls of the Hall’s main building, are no worse. Put up all of the negative language portraying who Rose was to accompany his likeness on that wall. Just get it done when the time comes. Same goes for Bonds, Clemens , A-Rod and those others who cheated. 

Meanwhile, injuries have been the major story in the NBA Playoffs second round. Two superstar Olympians were lost to their teams. Steph Curry suffered a hamstring injury which sidelined him and disrupted the flow of the Golden State Warriors team’s offense, leading to their elimination in five games by the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

Evidently Jimmy Butler III wasn’t “Playoff Jimmy” without the greatest shooter to play the game, a guy who can say “Nite, Nite” after sinking a three pointer from a ridiculous spot on the court in heavy traffic. Curry is that good and if there were any doubters, this reaffirmed his greatness. Green, Butler and the remainder of the team gave what they could; it just wasn’t enough. Sadly, Curry stated that had there been a Game 6 in San Francisco on Saturday, he was lined up to participate. 

Let’s not forget that Minnesota now is in the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive year. This time without Karl-Anthony Towns, as the big man plays for the New York Knicks. 

Head Coach Chris Finch, who TNT lead announcer Brian Anderson said had journeyed through Europe to learn how to teach players and then rose from the ranks of NBA assistants to assume the top job in Minnesota and had graduated from Division III Franklin and Marshall,  has done an outstanding job with his assistants in integrating the new players acquired from New York to play alongside uber-confident superstar Anthony Edwards. Remember that last year Finch was hobbled with a broken leg as a result of an inadvertent sideline collision. No such restrictions for him and his team is healthy. 

Then there was the Achilles tendon rupture suffered by Boston’s Jayson Tatum on the floor of Madison Square Garden in Game 4 of the Celtics’ series with the New York Knicks. It spurred the C’s, the defending champions, into overdrive in Game 5, when they soundly defeated the Knicks on the parquet floor of the TD Garden above North Station in Boston. 

Before the Garden faithful who hadn’t seen a series clincher since 1999, the Knicks stepped on the gas and never stopped. Coupled with poor three point shooting by Boston and no Tatum, New York advanced in a rout to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000. The celebrity-filled crowd was delirious and the Knicks alumni present in the building were whooping it up.

Indiana awaits. The Pacers, just like the T-Wolves, are returnees to the conference championship. I don’t know what the odds were for this to happen, but if somebody had that parlay, they would be doing just fine. 

Rick Carlisle’s troops decimated an injury-riddled Cleveland team which was the top seed in the East. They simply outshot, outworked and played like the better team. The experience of having reached this round again showed and will make the Pacers a very formidable opponent. Could this be the year they finally win a NBA title, or are the Knicks a team of destiny?

A rested Minnesota gets to play the very athletic Oklahoma City Thunder, which survived a rugged seven game series involving the two top candidates for M.V.P., Nikola Jokic of Denver and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Either team could win here. Do I hear a seven game battle?

In hockey, one play defined the series between Stanley Cup-starved Toronto and the defending champion Florida Panthers. Leafs’ goaltender Anthony Stolarz crumpled to the ground after taking an elbow to the head from Florida’s Sam Bennett. Stolarz, the New Jersey native, has been unable to play since, resulting in Toronto having to use its backup goalie. Bennett went undisciplined and made the Leafs chances to continue its pursuit of the Cup became way more dicey as a result. 

Still, Toronto went on the road and pitched a shutout to force a deciding seventh game. But the playing from behind against perhaps the best team still alive in the playoffs caught up with the Leafs, disappointing the Toronto fan base once more. 

Carolina ended Washington and Alexander Ovechkin’s dream season with two late goals in DC. While Washington had the better regular season record, it would have been a safe bet to take Carolina to move on to its third straight conference finals. 

Edmonton once more carved a path to the conference finals by taking out the Vegas Golden Knights. Not considered to be a favorite in the West, the firepower and defense the Oilers displayed looked to be championship-level. 

Then again, Dallas which emerged the winner of a six game series, with Western Conference top points leader Winnipeg in a compelling OT win is hardly going to be a walkover for the Oilers and the one-two scoring punch of  Connor Mc David and Leon Draisaitl. This is a repeat of last year’s Conference finals; we should have seen this coming. 

Two things of note about Winnipeg. First, goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was outplayed by his American counterpart on Dallas, Jake Oettinger. Even if he is considered the top NHL goalie and wins the Vezina Trophy, I am not a big Hellebuyck fan; he’s only so so in big games.

Secondly, you have to feel for Winnipeg winger Mark Scheifele. The sudden death of his father on Friday made it diffident for him, as he played in the game after consulting with his family. Scheifele scored Winnipeg’s lone goal, but was disconsolate when Dallas quickly scored in OT to end the game. What was remarkable was the amount of compassion shown by the Dallas players in the post-series handshake line. Hugs galore for Scheifele. Talk about class. 

All this comes full circle. What is in the midst of the games and affects the players? Teams are formed with a goal to win it all—this is why the New York Rangers hired Mike Sullivan as their new coach. Sullivan is a proven winner in Pittsburgh; of course he had a young, generational talent to work with in Sidney Crosby. 

Calculated risks are taken by managements in the different leagues to assemble a championship-worthy team. Look at how the New York Yankees and New York Mets parried over Juan Soto, who returned to Yankee Stadium this weekend to thunderous negative Bronx cheers (He went 1 for 10—not exemplary numbers).

There are predetermined outcomes and then there aren’t. Who could have foreseen the Dallas Mavericks being as lucky as the Knicks did when they won the NBA Draft Lottery and selected Patrick Ewing? 

Stop with the conspiracy theories regarding Dallas GM Nico Harrison trading away Luka Doncic, claiming that giving the Mavs the rights to unanimous top selection Cooper Flagg was to either keep the franchise in Dallas or move it to greener pastures in Las Vegas. Preposterous, I say. Yet the arrival of Flagg will make Harrison look like a savant when we believe he was simply the recipient of profound good luck. 

The Kansas City Chiefs and Royals, Chicago Bears and Connecticut Sun have greater chances to leave their homes than Flagg being purposely placed in Dallas. I wonder if the Mohegan Sun casino has offered odds on its team staying or moving? 

Steven Miller would smugly tell you that Journalism, Kentucky Derby runner up to Sovereignty, would only win when Sovereignty is present, like at Saturday’s Preakness. College basketball coaches risk throwing millions at young men in futile attempts to win it all under the guise of Name-Image-Likeness. 

My point is this—some form of betting is at the root of everything in sports. As it is in all business. Even in politics. 

There is no further need to punish Pete Rose. But wouldn’t you think he’d like to make a bet on whether he finally is enshrined in Cooperstown. 

Gambling in Sports. Pete Rose. Synonymous. Forever.