Big Win Over Portland Shows MSG Will Be Getting Loud for Knicks in Playoff Run This Yr

The Knicks are going to make us meshuggah before this maddening basketball season is over.

The Knicks defeated the hated Boston Celtics, 131-129, in double overtime in Boston on Sunday March 5th, for their ninth consecutive victory. Suddenly, Knick fans had visions of a glorious season dancing in their heads.

Then came three discouraging losses. The unpredictable team folded down the stretch on Tuesday March 7 when they were upset by the lowly Charlotte Hornets at Madison Square Garden, after taking a 16-point halftime lead. That one hurt.

The Knicks looked utterly mortal, just as it seemed that the good guys were about to jump to the next level and challenge the Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks for supremacy in the Eastern Conference. Well, not so fast. Then came a discouraging loss to a pretty good Sacramento Kings team on March 9 to start a west coast trip. While the Kings are the highest scoring team in the NBA, their 38-26 record coming into the game was nearly identical to the Knicks 39-28.

Playing back-to-back with Jalen Brunson out once again in both March 11 and 12th games, the Knicks earned a split decision, losing to the Clippers in LA, with Julian Randle going berserk but then calming down to beat the Lakers 112 to 108 on March 12, with Randle scoring 33 points and Josh Hart making some clutch free throws and R.J. Barrett chipping in with 30. Teamwork.

Let’s not forget the victory over the Celtics. It was a touchstone, a symbol of what these Knicks could be. Making the fantastic win even sweeter, the team played without Brunson in the first day of what would become a nagging left foot injury. Brunson, who joined the squad this season, had the foot act up when he did return briefly against Sacramento but sat the next few games. Definitely they need him healthy for the playoffs so rest now is for the best long term.

I still go back to the statement game March 5 against the Celtics, where Immanuel Quickly made a statement of his own by playing 55 of a possible 58 minutes. He scored a career-high 38 points and scored basket after basket when the Knicks threatened to unravel against a team that has one of the two best records in the Eastern Conference.

Whatever happens during the remainder of the season, the victory over the Celtics will be remembered fondly as a generational triumph. The Celtics were expected to polish off the Knicks, knowing that a win would give them the best record in the conference.

Quickley, who has become a fan favorite in only his third season with the Knicks was the story that night vs Celtics, vaulting ahead of Julius Randle, who made the all-star team a few weeks ago, and his other better-known teammates. When the pressure was most intense, Quickley responded. He played with a spirit seen more often in high school games than in the pros.

It was a remarkable sight. Quickley played a joyous game, strutting around the court to celebrate his big shots. The Celtics looked confused, if not befuddled, by his aura. It was as if he put the Knicks on his back and challenged his teammates to play up to his level.

And in the close out game of the four game West Coast swing, with Brunson still recuperating, the Knicks beat the Portland Trailblazers with a dominant second half. Quickley scored 26, playing 34 minutes with only one turnover--and he plays tenacious defense.

Scary Team?

Before the recent injury to Brunson, the Knicks had that look on the court of a team that is coming together at just the right time in the endless NBA season. While other teams were battling slumps, apathy and injuries, the young Knicks, until the trouble with Brunson’s foot, were winning games that they would have lost earlier in the season.

I have been a bitter critic of this franchise for decades, furious at the front office’s mismanagement and inability to sign big-ticket free agents. But I’m all aboard now. And as an added bonus to the many Villanova fans in the Big Apple, Brunson and Hart formed the starting back court the last time the Wildcats won an NCAA championship in 2016. Hart blended seamlessly into the Knicks lineup when he arrived here this year.

The Knicks have an opportunity to go far in the upcoming playoffs. All of this of course is contingent on Brunson getting fully healthy.

If he does, I would not be surprised if the Knicks go on to play in the NBA Eastern Conference finals, against the formidable Milwaukee Bucks, the team that won the title two seasons back.

I know, I know – I am getting ahead of myself now. I know, I know – the Knicks haven’t won anything yet and the playoffs are a different animal than the regular season. Teams start playing defense and the pressure increases markedly.

But what the heck. Why not? The Knicks are an easy team to root for now and with a dozen games to go, as of March 12 they have 40 victories. In a best-of-seven playoff series, with a healthy Brunson they’ll be very tough to beat. Madison Square Garden promises to be the loudest arena in the NBA, like in the good old days.

The Knicks have not won a championship since the 1972-73 season. Madison Square Garden recently hosted a reunion to mark the 50th anniversary of that fabled squad.

It’s time for the Garden to get loud again.