Much like how New York played during the 2010-11 regular season — from quarter-to-quarter and game-to-game — the playoff version of the Knicks’ demise was appropriately comprised of fits and starts, breakthroughs and collapses, and the ever-present ifs and buts.
The flawed franchise — with its flawed owner, flawed coach, and flawed pairing of two flawed superstars — was taught a lesson by the Celtics on team cohesion, singularity of purpose, and having the will to get things done.
Surely things could have been different.
An injured knee and a balky back here, a consistent official and on-point coach there, and perhaps the Knicks are up 3-1 in the series, with legions of schoolgirls singing “Landry is Dandy” on the way to class tomorrow morning.
But it wasn’t meant to be.
The Celtics stomped on the Knicks for just about three and a half quarters today at the Garden, and despite the best of intentions, it’s an early summer for hoops in the NYC.
Much more tomorrow and in the coming days, but despite the gloom and doom, the Knicks and their fans have a lot to be proud of.
The New York Knickerbockers — undoubtedly one of the NBA’s flagship franchises — are relevant again. And that, my friends, is a better end to the season around here than there has been in a long time.
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Yes there is hope…but also a lot of work to do.
In a weird, twisted, sick, only-could-apply-to-the-NYC-media kind of way, the injuries to Billups and Amar’e are almost a positive thing if you’re the Knicks. (Hear me out.)
Patient, rational people (read: not most NY fans, and not most NY media members) understood heading into the playoffs that a 6-seed and the current roster are both major improvements, but work needs to be done. In a way, the season was a success already. Anything else would just be gravy.
Then the injuries hit, and the chances looked even slimmer that the Knicks could win. They also gave the majority of fans and the media a reason to remain calm if the Knicks lost (“Billups was out! Amar’e was fighting through major pain! How could we beat them anyway?”
Instead of writing off the entire rebuilding process as a failure, fans can now focus on the next few steps of adding players and building team chemistry…rather than the usual outcry.
Again, only in NY…