Sports fandom is about many things, community, friendship, belief, emotions. Above most things though, it's about hope, hope that your shouts, your prayers, your game day rituals will help your beloved team win. That while real life is tough, often unfair, giving this group of athletes all your hope and belief is going to lift you up, and by God it's a beautiful thing when it happens.
When it's all said and done, we will remember more moments like these, both the good and the bad ones, shared with our fellow fans, as some of the most important moments of our lives. It's absolutely irrational and impossible to explain to those who don't share this insane love for a sport, but it doesn't make it any less special.
Thank you Jalen for choosing to become the stuff of legends right here in New York, for giving millions of downtrodden and heart broken fans hope. For giving us belief, for saving us on nights like these where we're on the precipice of losing our faith. Let's fucking go.
This was not one of Brown’s better games but he did a couple of things in the fourth quarter that showed one of his strengths. He was not wedded to Hart because he’s Josh Hart. Putting Shamet in the game late totally changed things. And he relentlessly hunted Harden which should have happened much much sooner. We also saw what happens when a coach is unwilling or unable to change what they are doing even if it means losing the game. Kenny “little Thibs” Atkinson should have taken Harden out of the game. Did not. Called no time outs. Had no answer for when the Knicks stopped blitzing. You need a coach who can do many different things in one game not just one thing over and over. The Knicks used to have one of those guys. The Cavs do now.
I don’t know. How many times over the Josh Hart era has the fan base begged for him to be taken out of a game after the first half only to see him make all the winning plays late in the game. Changing did work out last night though I reckon it had more to do with Brunson willing the team to victory (even if it looked shockingly like the offense from a year ago) than it did with coaching genius.
I mean, while I completely trust in his ability to come through, there is an argument from a tactical perspective that their are certain defensive alignments with him on the court that hurt our offense. It's nothing against him, and maybe the result wouldnt be different (i think it most certainly helped brunson get to his switches) but can't argue against making adjustments. thats silly
Not saying no adjustments should be made. Just saying that it was not necessarily a stroke of genius to make the substitution. It did not always work out for Torre to have Mariano close but history suggested he do so. I didn’t necessarily think Atkinson made a mistake by leaving Harden in either. We went on something like a 42-11 run. Which should he have tried to coach for? Scoring more than 11 points or preventing the 42. Not necessarily stupid to keep Harden on the floor with offense the bigger problem. Coaches push buttons and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. So I was mostly noting that the characterization of the coaching was overblown. They won because Brunson performed at a Jordanesque level and Cleveland stopped scoring.
Ok again I love Hart, but you just compared him to Mariano Rivera the greatest closer of all time. The Knicks have a pretty decent team that has a ton of depth. His skillset could be replicated by others on the roster. If a team is bad matchup for Hart, it is reasonable to make a tactical adjustment.
I actually wasn’t really surprised that the juggernaut didn’t continue. The layoff rust was there and the Cavs were on a high. They’re not the Hawks and they’re not the Sixers. The way the Knicks work, I knew they’d need some time to take the Cavs punch and figure out some counters.
Blitzing Harden was a weird strategy and I thought Brown was maybe engaging in some overthink.
As the Cavs lead swelled and the clock ticked below 8:00, I thought, ok, let’s make a run, make them sweat a little and at least establish something for game 2.
So Jalen went to work. And the Cavs let Harden guard him straight up. Over. And. Over. They never learn, do they?
I can imagine Harden, lottery pick and big NBA superstar, his team up by 20, saying “Leave it to me fellas, I can guard this shorty second round pick”. Sure you can, James. Until it’s time to actually do it.
The Cavs still could have pulled it out if Mitchell had hit a clutch bucket or two, except he didn’t. Because he doesn’t.
So a golden opportunity to grab home court and muck up this series and put the Knicks on their heels slips away from the Cavs like tears in rain.
Speaking of rain, here in Elgin Texas, insane lightning, thunder, wind and rain buffeted my house as the Knicks put the finishing touches on this paint-spill-turned masterpiece. This morning, the sky was literally orange and blue.
Heavens!!! With 7:52 to go. I looked at my son and said I just know there’s a run in here somewhere. I knew in my heart that they would find a way to win. I just didn’t ever figure it would be like that. I was a game one last year of the Indiana debacle and I can tell you this article is fantastic because WE FINALLY are on the other side of the craziest of outcomes. The Garden was as crazy as it has ever been when I’ve been so blessed to be in there.
I was prepping to get my senior Omni card ready to leave the Garden at that point. Something made me stay. I think the Basketball Gods entered the building. Wow, what a run.
Funny you should refer to the basketball gods, since I was looking skyward for some assistance down the stretch as well. When you don’t believe your eyes as to what is happening right in front of you, it really makes you wonder.
That's what I thought - There's a run in here. I just thought that even if it was a fake comeback, if we could make a game of it, it would at least be a psychological edge leading into game 2. But then they actually fucking won! That's really the mark of a great team to be able to flip the outcome of a game like that. Comes with playoff experience as well.
Not a playoff game but in 1972 the champion to-be Knicks scored 19 straight points to end the game in a one point victory over the Jabbar and Big O defending champion Bucks. They did that in the space of five minutes and fifty seconds without the benefit of three point shots.
I believe I held my breath for the entire five minutes and 50 second and did not change my lucky position by an inch.
The feeling of disbelief at what I was seeing was very similar, although last night I did take a couple of breaths and move somewhat (but I will cut myself some slack-I am 54 years older).
That game lives in the mind of every Knick old head and this game will too.
I was in the TD Garden for game 2 of Knicks-Celtics last year, when the team erased a 20 pound deficit and won the game on a last second steal from Mikal. I distinctly remember that I and all the Celtics fans exiting the arena around me were in flat-out shock. There wasn't a lot of shouting or carrying on, simply stunned silence as none of us understood completely what we had just seen.
I remembered that feeling as I hung on against all reason with 8 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Which implies we have precedent for what we just saw. I'd rather not rely on my stash of cardiac medications for the next seven Knicks wins, though. #63WinsDown7ToGo #70Wins #LFGK
Are you not going to tell everyone that I told you there was going to be an explosion last night while you were crying in your beer or scotch or bourbon
And they say a baseball game is never over ’til it’s over. Apparently playoff basketball got the memo too.
Not sure there’s much left to add after last night except this: one win doesn’t make a series. Cleveland spent 41 minutes looking like the smarter, sharper, more connected team. Then Kenny Atkinson hit the coaching equivalent of accidentally taking a melatonin gummy in the 4th quarter and the whole thing unraveled.
Before that? Their game plan built a 22-point lead. That wasn’t luck. That was execution.
So enjoy the comeback. Absolutely. Games like that are why we love sports. But the Knicks didn’t win the series last night. They won one game. Celebrate today. Then get ready for tomorrow.
The game plan worked because the Knicks couldn’t make an open three for the first 3 quarters. The Knicks are a good three-point shooting team so that will change.
I know everyone is going to sing Brunson’s praises (they should). I know people are going to bury Harden (they absolutely should). I know people will kill Kenny Atkinson’s decision making late (the hell was he doing??) But this team is made of the right stuff. Because it has a bunch of guys who are just straight up big play makers. Winning teams have guys who are able to execute and make good things happen. Last night was Shamet and Bridges. Hell of a win
Didn’t believe it while it was happening, and I still don’t. 8 hours later and I’m shook. Exorcism for sure. “The power of Brunson compels you!”. One for the ages.
I was under the Pacers basket last year for ECF G1. At least once a month, I’ve worn the free giveaway T-shirt from that game. It has bright orange letters. It’s an unmistakable bright orange sports pain scar. I see that shirt on the streets of the city, and there is an instant connection with a stranger. You too saw worst sports thing you could imagine.
Blessed to be in the building last night, under the Knicks basket in the second half. Watching Shamet’s late 3 bounce around the rim, there was no expectation, nor desperate pleading - just an odd acceptance of knowing that you never know. We know now that you never know.
Last night felt calm and delirious. It felt like Brunson’s words we heard later - that competing was all we wanted. The win was an unreal bonus.
Marci’s opening words last night are right on - if this team makes the finals, and just leaves it all on the table, we’ll hold them in an esteemed regard for what they’ve done. There’s a peace in the chaos with this team, and what seems like an understanding and agreement with the fans.
I am still floating. The greatest sporting event I’ve ever experienced live (to be fair, I am a Knicks Mets Jets Rangers fan), hugging the security guard after the Shamet 3. Then again after the second Shamet 3. As you wrote so perfectly, the demons of Indiana 2025 have been exercised. To win this game with our B- game at best and in this fashion could be a sign of things to come in this series. For today, let’s watch the highlights 150x more and relish in what was that spiritual experience last night.
Watching the end of the game was crazy, but I think most fans were expecting a comeback. We have seen this team do something similar before. Although not in the fashion. They played like shit all game long. Then the tiger woke up. Harden looks old out there and predators always hunt the weak.
The inverse symmetry is insane, down to the Merrill shot somehow rimming out on the same basket as Haliburton. Im genuinely delirious.
If you were agnostic you better believe now
Sports fandom is about many things, community, friendship, belief, emotions. Above most things though, it's about hope, hope that your shouts, your prayers, your game day rituals will help your beloved team win. That while real life is tough, often unfair, giving this group of athletes all your hope and belief is going to lift you up, and by God it's a beautiful thing when it happens.
When it's all said and done, we will remember more moments like these, both the good and the bad ones, shared with our fellow fans, as some of the most important moments of our lives. It's absolutely irrational and impossible to explain to those who don't share this insane love for a sport, but it doesn't make it any less special.
Thank you Jalen for choosing to become the stuff of legends right here in New York, for giving millions of downtrodden and heart broken fans hope. For giving us belief, for saving us on nights like these where we're on the precipice of losing our faith. Let's fucking go.
This was not one of Brown’s better games but he did a couple of things in the fourth quarter that showed one of his strengths. He was not wedded to Hart because he’s Josh Hart. Putting Shamet in the game late totally changed things. And he relentlessly hunted Harden which should have happened much much sooner. We also saw what happens when a coach is unwilling or unable to change what they are doing even if it means losing the game. Kenny “little Thibs” Atkinson should have taken Harden out of the game. Did not. Called no time outs. Had no answer for when the Knicks stopped blitzing. You need a coach who can do many different things in one game not just one thing over and over. The Knicks used to have one of those guys. The Cavs do now.
Landry is such a gamer.
Shockers baby
I don’t know. How many times over the Josh Hart era has the fan base begged for him to be taken out of a game after the first half only to see him make all the winning plays late in the game. Changing did work out last night though I reckon it had more to do with Brunson willing the team to victory (even if it looked shockingly like the offense from a year ago) than it did with coaching genius.
I mean, while I completely trust in his ability to come through, there is an argument from a tactical perspective that their are certain defensive alignments with him on the court that hurt our offense. It's nothing against him, and maybe the result wouldnt be different (i think it most certainly helped brunson get to his switches) but can't argue against making adjustments. thats silly
Not saying no adjustments should be made. Just saying that it was not necessarily a stroke of genius to make the substitution. It did not always work out for Torre to have Mariano close but history suggested he do so. I didn’t necessarily think Atkinson made a mistake by leaving Harden in either. We went on something like a 42-11 run. Which should he have tried to coach for? Scoring more than 11 points or preventing the 42. Not necessarily stupid to keep Harden on the floor with offense the bigger problem. Coaches push buttons and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. So I was mostly noting that the characterization of the coaching was overblown. They won because Brunson performed at a Jordanesque level and Cleveland stopped scoring.
Ok again I love Hart, but you just compared him to Mariano Rivera the greatest closer of all time. The Knicks have a pretty decent team that has a ton of depth. His skillset could be replicated by others on the roster. If a team is bad matchup for Hart, it is reasonable to make a tactical adjustment.
Our Father, who art in the Mecca,Brunson be thy name.Thy kingdom come, thy threes be done,In the playoffs as it is in the regular season. Amelo.
I love it. A true believer. The force was with us.
I actually wasn’t really surprised that the juggernaut didn’t continue. The layoff rust was there and the Cavs were on a high. They’re not the Hawks and they’re not the Sixers. The way the Knicks work, I knew they’d need some time to take the Cavs punch and figure out some counters.
Blitzing Harden was a weird strategy and I thought Brown was maybe engaging in some overthink.
As the Cavs lead swelled and the clock ticked below 8:00, I thought, ok, let’s make a run, make them sweat a little and at least establish something for game 2.
So Jalen went to work. And the Cavs let Harden guard him straight up. Over. And. Over. They never learn, do they?
I can imagine Harden, lottery pick and big NBA superstar, his team up by 20, saying “Leave it to me fellas, I can guard this shorty second round pick”. Sure you can, James. Until it’s time to actually do it.
The Cavs still could have pulled it out if Mitchell had hit a clutch bucket or two, except he didn’t. Because he doesn’t.
So a golden opportunity to grab home court and muck up this series and put the Knicks on their heels slips away from the Cavs like tears in rain.
Speaking of rain, here in Elgin Texas, insane lightning, thunder, wind and rain buffeted my house as the Knicks put the finishing touches on this paint-spill-turned masterpiece. This morning, the sky was literally orange and blue.
You can’t make this stuff up.
Tears in rain? Love me a Blade Runner reference!
Heavens!!! With 7:52 to go. I looked at my son and said I just know there’s a run in here somewhere. I knew in my heart that they would find a way to win. I just didn’t ever figure it would be like that. I was a game one last year of the Indiana debacle and I can tell you this article is fantastic because WE FINALLY are on the other side of the craziest of outcomes. The Garden was as crazy as it has ever been when I’ve been so blessed to be in there.
I was prepping to get my senior Omni card ready to leave the Garden at that point. Something made me stay. I think the Basketball Gods entered the building. Wow, what a run.
Funny you should refer to the basketball gods, since I was looking skyward for some assistance down the stretch as well. When you don’t believe your eyes as to what is happening right in front of you, it really makes you wonder.
That's what I thought - There's a run in here. I just thought that even if it was a fake comeback, if we could make a game of it, it would at least be a psychological edge leading into game 2. But then they actually fucking won! That's really the mark of a great team to be able to flip the outcome of a game like that. Comes with playoff experience as well.
Not a playoff game but in 1972 the champion to-be Knicks scored 19 straight points to end the game in a one point victory over the Jabbar and Big O defending champion Bucks. They did that in the space of five minutes and fifty seconds without the benefit of three point shots.
I believe I held my breath for the entire five minutes and 50 second and did not change my lucky position by an inch.
The feeling of disbelief at what I was seeing was very similar, although last night I did take a couple of breaths and move somewhat (but I will cut myself some slack-I am 54 years older).
That game lives in the mind of every Knick old head and this game will too.
I remember that game like it was yesterday
I was in the TD Garden for game 2 of Knicks-Celtics last year, when the team erased a 20 pound deficit and won the game on a last second steal from Mikal. I distinctly remember that I and all the Celtics fans exiting the arena around me were in flat-out shock. There wasn't a lot of shouting or carrying on, simply stunned silence as none of us understood completely what we had just seen.
I remembered that feeling as I hung on against all reason with 8 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Which implies we have precedent for what we just saw. I'd rather not rely on my stash of cardiac medications for the next seven Knicks wins, though. #63WinsDown7ToGo #70Wins #LFGK
I don't remember it (I was only 5) but I have heard my dad speak of it many times
Knick fans don’t really age, do we.
Ask me after
My back surgery on Tuesday. (:
To you, Ken and DBN. We are fucking old
Yeah we are.
Are you not going to tell everyone that I told you there was going to be an explosion last night while you were crying in your beer or scotch or bourbon
I told them that you were all firm on the Comeback . You were
Also - this is the second time we did this to Cleveland THIS SEASON! Like, they’ve already seen this movie before!
And they say a baseball game is never over ’til it’s over. Apparently playoff basketball got the memo too.
Not sure there’s much left to add after last night except this: one win doesn’t make a series. Cleveland spent 41 minutes looking like the smarter, sharper, more connected team. Then Kenny Atkinson hit the coaching equivalent of accidentally taking a melatonin gummy in the 4th quarter and the whole thing unraveled.
Before that? Their game plan built a 22-point lead. That wasn’t luck. That was execution.
So enjoy the comeback. Absolutely. Games like that are why we love sports. But the Knicks didn’t win the series last night. They won one game. Celebrate today. Then get ready for tomorrow.
The game plan worked because the Knicks couldn’t make an open three for the first 3 quarters. The Knicks are a good three-point shooting team so that will change.
I think Kenny's gummy had THC lol.
This. All day this. But I do think we understand this as a team, and as fans
I know everyone is going to sing Brunson’s praises (they should). I know people are going to bury Harden (they absolutely should). I know people will kill Kenny Atkinson’s decision making late (the hell was he doing??) But this team is made of the right stuff. Because it has a bunch of guys who are just straight up big play makers. Winning teams have guys who are able to execute and make good things happen. Last night was Shamet and Bridges. Hell of a win
Didn’t believe it while it was happening, and I still don’t. 8 hours later and I’m shook. Exorcism for sure. “The power of Brunson compels you!”. One for the ages.
I was under the Pacers basket last year for ECF G1. At least once a month, I’ve worn the free giveaway T-shirt from that game. It has bright orange letters. It’s an unmistakable bright orange sports pain scar. I see that shirt on the streets of the city, and there is an instant connection with a stranger. You too saw worst sports thing you could imagine.
Blessed to be in the building last night, under the Knicks basket in the second half. Watching Shamet’s late 3 bounce around the rim, there was no expectation, nor desperate pleading - just an odd acceptance of knowing that you never know. We know now that you never know.
Last night felt calm and delirious. It felt like Brunson’s words we heard later - that competing was all we wanted. The win was an unreal bonus.
Marci’s opening words last night are right on - if this team makes the finals, and just leaves it all on the table, we’ll hold them in an esteemed regard for what they’ve done. There’s a peace in the chaos with this team, and what seems like an understanding and agreement with the fans.
Clyde.
Reed.
Ewing.
DeBusschure.
King.
And Brunson.
Somewhere in basketball heaven Red Holzman is smiling.
Don’t forget Dollar Bill
And Dean Meminger.
And the Pearl.
Y tu Jerry Lucas?
I am still floating. The greatest sporting event I’ve ever experienced live (to be fair, I am a Knicks Mets Jets Rangers fan), hugging the security guard after the Shamet 3. Then again after the second Shamet 3. As you wrote so perfectly, the demons of Indiana 2025 have been exercised. To win this game with our B- game at best and in this fashion could be a sign of things to come in this series. For today, let’s watch the highlights 150x more and relish in what was that spiritual experience last night.
LGK !!!
Watching the end of the game was crazy, but I think most fans were expecting a comeback. We have seen this team do something similar before. Although not in the fashion. They played like shit all game long. Then the tiger woke up. Harden looks old out there and predators always hunt the weak.