Last season was a roller coaster ride for the Knicks. They put up a quality regular season with 51 wins to finish third in the East, then escaped a hard-fought series with the Pistons in the first round before slaying the defending champion Celtics in the Eastern Conference semis.
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Reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years was a tremendous accomplishment, but Knicks fans still had a bitter taste in their mouths after they were ousted by the upstart Pacers. That series brought up all kinds of nightmare memories, the most vivid being when Tyrese Haliburton channeled Reggie Miller’s infamous “Choke” celebration when he tied Game 1.
As they get ready to begin a new season tonight against the Cavs, hopes are higher at Madison Square Garden than they have been in a long time. Mike Brown has replaced Tom Thibodeau, and along with the Cavs, the Knicks are the favorites to represent the East in the Finals. Even Miller, their longtime nemesis, believes in them, though he couldn’t help but pile on some pressure when he appeared on The Dan Patrick Show yesterday.
“Let me say this for all my beautiful New Yorkers, my Knicks fans,” Miller said. “If y’all don’t win it this year coming out the East, something is clearly wrong. So to me the two top teams in the East are the Cavs and the Knicks.”
Miller heaped praise on the Cavs, but noted that “they haven’t been able to get over the hump come playoff time.”
That’s why he’s more confident in the Knicks to make it to the Finals. “At the end of the day, they’ve got the best clutch player in Jalen Brunson,” he said, adding, “just the cohesiveness of the Knicks team, I think come playoff time, they’ll be able to take that next step.”
The Knicks will have to make a smooth transition from Tom Thibodeau to Mike Brown, but one benefit to that move should be a roster that’s fresher once the postseason arrives. Thibodeau played his starters more minutes than anyone. Brown doesn’t have that same reputation. Besides, he also has the luxury of some added depth pieces with the offseason acquisitions of Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele.
The Knicks haven’t been to the Finals since 1999, and they haven’t won the title since 1973 when Clyde Frazier and Earl the Pearl were doing their thing. With the Celtics and Miller’s Pacers hobbled by injuries to their best players, this really may be the best chance the Knicks will ever get to break through. We’ll see the first step in their journey when they host the Cavs at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
