By 3 o’clock one of the mysteries was solved. That’s when the final buzzer sounded at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, exactly 462 miles away from Madison Square Garden Knicks.
where the lowly Hornets had knocked off the Cavaliers, 120-110. So it was here that the Knicks, if they were so inclined, could have started to finagle things but the Knicks don’t finagle.
They are not a perfect basketball team. They have their flaws. There are an army of folks from Charles Barkley on down who dine out on the opinion that they aren’t as good as their record, that they’re vulnerable, that they can be had. Maybe all of that is true. We will find all of that out in due time.
But they do not finagle. They give an honest day’s work, every day. They bring their lunch pails to the Garden, they punch a clock, and they give you an max effort every time out. That’s who the Knicks are, for better or for worse. So they would battle back from an eight-point hole against the Bulls. They would agree to five minutes of time-and-a-half, and finally beat the Bulls in overtime, 120-119, wrapping up the second seed in the East.
And when Tom Thibodeau was later asked if he had even considered taking his foot off the gas, his response was one of incredulity and pure Thibs.
At first he looked like he did when he saw a tree fall on his house during a storm. And he said, “The goal is to win. You did everything you could to win.”
Sunday at the Garden, even if it’s just to give the players a break. It was great for old-school players who hated tanking in any form. At the end of an exhausting marathon of 82 games. Billy Donovan’s Bulls will be locked down on the nine-hole course and will have to play again in a few days.
Still, the team’s four best players – Alex Caruso, DeMar DeRozan, Coby White and Nikola Vucevic – all logged at least 41 minutes.
Knicks?
The only concession was that Mitch Robinson sat out for the entire second half, but that was an obvious precaution. The rest of the team played like their lives in the playoffs depended on that outcome. That’s how they play 82 games a year with this team under this coach. Donte DeVincenzo played 52 minutes and 31 seconds and appeared to be headed to West Fourth Street to play some more at the end of the game.
This is this team. And to be honest, that’s why I think they have a good chance in the playoffs no matter who they play. I can understand why some Knicks fans wanted to go with the No. 3 pick. Currently, the first-round options are Joel Embiid’s Philadelphia or Miami, but playoff equipment is always about 40 percent weaker than in the regular season.
But it’s also worth noting that the Knicks have lost two of their three games against the Pacers. If we had lost three games, we would have drawn. And the Pacers are exactly the sort of young, athletic team that gives the Knicks a certain edge,
being explosive (86 points in the first half before scoring a total of 157 against the Hawks on Sunday) and their best team. Their point guard, Tyrese Haliburton, is capable of outperforming Jalen Brunson in at least a draw.
In fact, aside from Boston, which finished with 64 wins, there isn’t a single matchup between the next eight teams in the East. And considering what the Bulls showed on Sunday, we’re going to win, those will be considered a “gift” to everyone. And even the Celtics, deep down, probably wouldn’t mind avoiding the Heat in the first round.
“We’re just playing around,” Thibodeau said.
They are playing. They shatter. They could have settled for three. A few minutes later, news broke that the Bucks would be under pressure in Orlando. Now he has 2 enabled.
He was already close to reaching 50 wins. Elsewhere, the team was doing something else. Philly was sitting on Embiid. Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland sat in Cleveland. This may not have been a coincidence, but a wise decision, Again: We will find all of that out in due time.
“I can’t speak for Cleveland,” Thibodeau said. “Cleveland does what they think is best for their organization and we do what we think is best for our organization.”
So the Knicks got the 2. They got their 50 wins, first time in 11 years for that. If they survive the Heat or the Sixers, they’ll get Game 7 in the second round at home, which sounds great, until you realize that the last three times the Knicks had home court (last year, Miami; 2021, Atlanta; 2013, Indiana) they never even reached Game 7.
Nothing is guaranteed, and so nothing can be taken for granted, and so that is why the Knicks credo is a simple one.
Only worry about things that are in your control,” Brunson said.
Winning this game was in their control. Defying the pessimists surrounding them, that’s in their control. Starting next weekend, they’ll back up a regular season that exceeded anyone’s reasonable expectations. Good times at the Garden. Good times for the city game.