Thanks to days of debilitating back pain, I am currently either in excruciating pain regularly or doped up on a muscle relaxer that leaves me dizzier than Dean. As I watched the Knicks slowly but surely piss away last night’s game and a potential 2-0 series lead, I didn’t feel that upset. Some of that, undoubtedly, were the meds. Some of it’s just grounding. I’ve seen too much shit with this team to stare in wonder every time they pop a squat.
In case you hadn’t heard — credit to the nameless ESPN
staffer who put this in their recap — last night the Knicks, 40-1 in the shot clock era when up 12+ in the fourth quarter of playoff games, fell to 40-2. The first time it happened was Reggie Miller in 1994, a proper villain’s proper origin story. Last night it was CJ McCollum. In the animated Batman series, a jumpy, nobody, wanna-be mobster named Sidney Debris seemingly appears to do what none of the Caped Crusader’s villain’s gallery could: kill the Batman. Reggie was a Joker-level Knicks villain. Michael Jordan? Bane. CJ McCollum is Sidney.
Maybe that’s unfair. For many years McCollum has been this generation’s “best player never to be an All-Star.” Rod Strickland never was. Neither were Derek Harper, Mike Bibby or Damon Stoudamire. But the world’s 54th-best sniper is still a good shot. Not that they need be when their target keeps shooting itself in the foot.
Oddly enough, the Knicks outscored the Hawks at the charity stripe and behind the 3-point line in the final frame. Getting outscored by 20 on 2s proved to be the difference maker, despite the usual suspects getting their usual flack. New York missing 10 of 27 free throws is an easy scapegoat, including two late from OG Anunoby. But that’s one of those things people say when they’re selling you something or tired of thinking for themselves. McCollum missed two free throws with 5 seconds and change left. Yet his team won.
So why do we always hear the same lies parroted? Because “You can’t win if you have fewer points by the end, and that’s really the only must-do” doesn’t complicate basketball. It doesn’t pretend there’s some special talent or intellect required. It’s just unvarnished, simple truth. So we reject it.
“You can’t win if you get beat on the offensive glass.” The Knicks corralled four of their own misses in the fourth. The Hawks? Zero.
“Stars win games.” The Knicks’ big-name, well-paid lineup? Including two All-Star, All-NBA talents? The only Knick to score more than once in the fourth was Jalen Brunson; the only other Knicks to score at all were Anunoby and Jordan Clarkson. Six Hawks combined to make 80% of their 2s: McCollum, Jonathan Kuminga, Onyeak Okongwu, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jalen Johnson and Corey Kispert. Only one All-Star selection among them, Johnson’s. And yet, the Sinister Six upended your friendly neighborhood 3-seed.
Russell Richardson already did his typical detailed recapitulation of the nitty gritty, so I’ll spare you the gratuity of gagging up the gory details. I’ve been pushing this all season, so may as well double-down now, and maybe it’s the muscle relaxer talking, but . . . babes, what are we sweating here?
The Knicks losing playoff home games in implausible fashion isn’t a glitch, it’s the matrix. The Hawks earned a split of their first two games at MSG. Last year, the Pistons, Celtics and Pacers did, too. In 2023 the Knicks split the opening pair of home games against the Heat. In 2013 they split with Indiana. And this isn’t some post-glory days drop-off, either: same thing happened with Toronto in 2001. Maddening? Mm-hmm. Meaningful? Doubtful.
If there’s any relief to take from last night’s loss, it’s that it felt far more like the Knicks blew it then some supernatural force intervened. When Reggie Miller or Trae Young went off, it scared the crap outta me; that was like Thanos adding another stone to his gauntlet. McCollum going off feels more like when an ATM accidentally starts spitting out cash: it can happen, you know that, but it’s rare enough you figure it’ll happen to someone else; you don’t go around expecting it and start changing your daily routine to take you past more ATMs, waiting for one to start paying out. Similarly, I don’t think McCollum suddenly discovered his own private Mr. Hyde.
It’d be cool if Karl-Anthony T0wns and Mitchell Robinson would stop committing so many away-from-the-play fouls. The announcers are always going on about the Hawks being too small to cope with the Knick bigs; having seen Clint Capela morph into Moses Malone against the Mitch-less Knicks five years ago. I say nuts! I’ve been impressed by Towns slowing down late on his drives. Maybe that’s the lack of a credible shot-blocking threat, but KAT decelerating is leading to (mostly) better passes and decision-making. Atlanta played Kuminga and Okongwu pretty much the whole fourth. Time will tell, but I don’t see them as Knick kryptonite.
Some historical comfort: the Knicks have reached eight Finals in their history, winning 20 playoff series in those years. Know how many they swept? Just three: best-of-three sweeps of the Celtics in 1951 and the Baltimore Bullets in 1953, and a four-game sweep of Atlanta in 1999. That’s it. Last night’s loss wasn’t the Hal/Boone Yankees playing against character. Last night was, legitimately, the Knicks under Joe Lapchick, Red Holzman, Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy. The truth hurts. Ignoring it only makes it worse.
Quoth Real Clydes Wear Plaid: “ . . . we’ve seen this all before.” But who cares about 75 years ago? 50? 30? You’re hurting now. You want the owwie to stop now. It’ll heal, but it’s gonna sting for a bit. Game 3 isn’t till Thursday in the A-T-L. Maybe it’s the pills, but I’m not anymore concerned about the Knicks than I was 24 hours ago. If they don’t win both road games, I may have to up my dosage.
