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.