One For Us
For one night, it was our turn to enjoy the impossible.
A few weeks ago, when it became clear that this season was likely to feature a postseason appearance, the KFS staff started batting around ideas for a playoff slogan.
Eventually, we settled on “Why Not Now?”
It was our way to pay homage to what these Knicks had achieved, and that maybe their time for glory didn’t have to wait until next year, as it has for more than half a century.
In overcoming injury after injury and notching big win after big win, they had more than earned that level of respect.
At the same time, there was an irony to the slogan that only Knicks fans of a certain age could appreciate.
Why not now? Because when is it ever our time to experience the miraculous, the improbable, or even the unlikely?
A starting power forward doesn’t miss four shots at point blank range against the Knicks. A finger roll doesn’t rim out against the Knicks. A star player doesn’t get blocked at the rim against the Knicks.
No, no, and no.
Instead, a star blocks a potential championship winning 3-pointer against the Knicks. Series-altering suspensions get levied against the Knicks. And most famously, a player will score eight points in 8.9 seconds against the Knicks.
That moment in particular, against the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals, came to mind as I was walking out of Madison Square Garden last night, still unsure of what exactly I had just witnessed.
That’s because what I saw went beyond the unlikely, beyond the improbable, and indeed felt like a real life miracle on 34th street.
The sort of miracle that might happen to another team.
But certainly not to us.
The DiVo Double Bang, as it shall now be known out of respect for Mike Breen’s instant classic call, happened right in front of my eyes. I saw it. I know I saw it because I was in the Arena, watching the court, and I can distinctly recall seeing the ball go through the net.
Social media has even been kind enough to provide video evidence in case I was uncertain as to the images my eyes transmitted to my brain:
So yes, I saw, and I see…
But I do not believe.
I do not believe that this is a thing that happened in this, a game the Knicks had no business winning, and maybe even no business being in at all. Three stars played. One shot the ball exceptionally well, one shot the ball well enough, and the one who played for the Knicks had his second consecutive abysmal outing, at least when it came to making baskets.
That’s…not exactly a winning formula. It’s certainly not a winning formula two games in a row, especially when the biggest advantage from Game 1 - rebounding - was far more equal last night.
There was, in fact, nothing about the box score that stood out and made you say “here’s why the Knicks overcame their challenges and came out with a victory.” Give or take a Josh Hart, none of their players had an out of body experience. Aside from Brunson, it was just solid production up and down the roster.
That shouldn’t be enough to get a W, or even to be in position to grab a W, not when two opposing stars did what they did, and Jalen didn’t do what we thought he needed to.
But there they were, up seven in the fourth quarter, seemingly positioned to overcome is all.
Until they weren’t. When Brunson’s corner three missed and Kyle Lowry got fouled, the Philly comeback was complete. As he headed to the line for two free throws, up five with 47 seconds remaining, the game was over. It wasn’t officially over, but it was over. It had to be. It would have taken a miracle for any other outcome to transpire. Miracles, as we know, don’t happen to the Knicks.
When Brunson’s 3-point attempt bounce-bounce-bounced into the hoop, there was no instant sense of hope. Even after Maxey lost the ball (which itself happened after Sixers head coach Nick Nurse did not call a time out) and raised the blood pressure of everyone in the building, Donte’s initial three-ball missed.
That was more like it. Close but no cigar. A Knicks concept as comfortable as an old sweatshirt.
Except it still wasn’t over. Not after Isaiah Hartenstein skied over a ball-watching Embiid and then somehow got it to OG Anunoby as he was falling down, which preceded a pass to DiVincenzo, who fired his second attempt with as much confidence as any shot he’s taken this season.
And even then…there was still time for heartbreak. Maxey could have scored to take the lead. OG could have missed a free throw. Embiid could have tied it at the buzzer.
No, no, and no.
Instead, the clock read all zeroes, with a higher number next to “Knicks” than the one next to “Sixers.” This meant one of two things:
I had been at the center of a Truman Show-esque ruse, and the Garden was not filled with fans, but paid actors placed there to give off the impression I was witnessing something I was not, or…
The Knicks did the thing to Philly that other teams always seem to do to them.
Sitting here now, several hours after the fact, I can’t be sure which is correct.
But what I can be sure of it this:
“NO QUIT, ALL GRIT, CLOSE-KNIT” is way more than just a series of catch phrases the Knicks have painted onto the hallway adjacent to their locker room. It is an ethos etched into their collective basketball souls.
They don’t know when the fight is over. They don’t know when the white towel has been thrown. And they certainly don’t live with the ghosts of Knicks past hanging over their heads, like so many of us fans do.
No, this group has taken the responsibility of writing a new history - one that, apparently, will include undoing the sins of the past, one seared memory at a time.
Why not now? Whatever the reasons, this team doesn’t want to hear them. They only deal in affirmatives. Control what you can control, even when a given outcome seems out of your grasp. Never give up, never give in. Play ‘till the final buzzer sounds.
That’s who the 2023-24 New York Knicks are.
A team that needs to be seen to be believed.
And even then, it might take a while to sink in.
COMING LATER TODAY, for full subscribers only: A full recap of an incredible Game 2 win.
🏀
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
I'm seeing a lot of 76ers fans (understandably) unhappy with the last sequence. I'm sure people with bigger platforms will eventually break it down, but I don't think the 76ers can with a straight face complain about anything. I spent too much time at 3am PT fully breaking everything down.
There were 3 "missed calls" people are griping about:
1. The first "missed time out."
2. The Brunson "foul" on Maxey.
3. The second "missed time out."
Gonna dismantle each one:
1. You can clearly see Nurse's hands were both cupped, not calling for a timeout as the ball is on the baseline being held by Lowry. By the time he does call for the timeout, the ball is AT BEST on Lowry's fingertips in the process of being inbounded, and in reality it's been fully passed to Maxey. Not a missed timeout
2. During that inbound, Maxey CLEARLY pushes off on Josh Hart. No doubt about it, runs into Hart, extends both arms, and pushes off. Hart sells it a bit, but there was no call. Clear and obvious push-off foul that everyone seems to conveniently ignore. But, just for the Philly fans, let's give it to them and choose to ignore that foul. Did Brunson have his hands on Maxey's waist? Yes. Was there visible pulling to impede motion? I haven't seen an angle that definitively shows that. But let's say he did pull on Maxey and impede his motion. Maxey deserves a Razzy for that sell job, because he flings his arms out and tosses the ball in the air like he's a bride tossing a bouquet at a wedding. Brunson's hands are on his waist during the contact, and he sells it like there was a reach-in foul across his arms. Refs deserve plenty of criticism, but late in the game, marginal contact, and a horrendous sell? Of course they don't call it. Most fans would be furious if they called that in the second quarter of a November regular season game, let alone the last 30 seconds of a playoff game.
3. Nurse begins the motion to call for a timeout at 24.1 seconds when Maxey is fully on the ground. Again, he BEGINS THE MOTION to call it. Hands are fully up in a T position at 23.5 seconds. By that point, the ball is on the floor after Maxey swung it across his body to try to pass, and it is being grabbed & contested by Hart. How many times have people complained in the past that refs would give a team a timeout when the ball is clearly being contested? But even if it isn't contested, and we assume Maxey still has full possession, Nurse is just standing there expecting eyes to be on him as if this was still a dead ball out of bounds play. By the time Nurse begins to lean over to a ref and make his "Hey, I'm calling a timeout here" motion, it is 23.0 seconds, and the ball is fully in Hart's hands. Expecting a ref officiating a live ball situation where the ball is loose/being fought for in a scrum and everything takes place over 1.1 seconds and half that time the ball is either contested or not in the 76ers possession is... certainly something you could argue for.
All this to say, don't let ANYONE on Twitter, on National TV, or on Philly radio to take this away from the Knicks. They wanna complain about no-calls? Show them the above breakdown, and tell them that they can complain about no-calls before the last 30 seconds.
I was watching the fourth in stony silence and then yelled louder than I have ever yelled when that Divo 3 went in. You described it perfectly, Jon - the Brunson 3 goes in it’s like “oh that’s nice, there’s technically a chance now if they get a steal or something”, the Sixers don’t call timeout and the refs somehow don’t call a foul on the inbounds and Hart gets the ball “oh I guess technically we have a chance…”, Divo misses the 3 “welp… sigh”, Hartenstein skies for the board! He’s fouled! They’re not calling it! Wait he got the ball to OG! OG got it back to Divo! He’s wide open! He’s…. “YEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS” and not to be lost was Harterstein’s incredible game saving block on Maxey. And OG grabbing that rebound and calmly sinking two free throws. Wow. What an amazing game. Triggering for all long term Knicks fans PTSD, but hopefully exorcising some of it.