The Knicks haven’t brought home a championship since 1973, but now they’re in the NBA Playoffs. On Friday night, they'll face the Pacers in Indiana for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. New York City is buzzing with excitement. Can this be the year?
If you want to get up to speed on this year’s team, and why it suddenly seems like half the city is sporting Knicks merch, read on.
Why is everyone obsessed with the Knicks all of a sudden?
Last season, the Knicks lost to the Miami Heat in the second round of the playoffs. Sure, fans were disappointed but they finally had something they could hold on to: hope. Up until last year, the Knicks hadn’t won a playoff series in a decade. That is essentially a century in sports fandom years.
Why such a long losing stretch?
There is a long answer to that question, spanning decades, but one glaring mistake the Knicks have made over and over again is paying superstar money to aging players who never produced like superstars. Stephon Marbury, Amar’e Stoudemire and Joakim Noah are all players who will go down as some of the best in the game – just not when they played in New York.
What’s so different about the team now?
A superstar: Jalen Brunson. The Knicks signed him last season to a four-year, $104 million contract. At 6’2”, he’s smaller than most point guards, so there was initially some good old-fashioned New York skepticism about him. But Brunson has proved his doubters wrong and then some. He averaged almost 27.8 points per game during the last playoff season and got the city’s attention.
In the first round of this year’s playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers, he scored at least 40 points in the last three games. Then he faced the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden on Monday and scored over 40 points AGAIN. The last person to score 40 points in four straight playoff games was none other than Michael Jordan, who accomplished the feat back in 1993.
Were fans surprised by his success?
Sort of. Despite being a phenomenal college player at Villanova, he was the 33rd overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft, and was relegated to playing backup for the Dallas Mavericks. The Knicks were willing to take a chance on him and he knew this was the stage to show who he was.
So he’s got a great New York story.
Exactly. How many New Yorkers came here with a dream and found the sheer will to make it happen? That’s Jalen Brunson.
OK, I’m into it. Who else should I root for?
Watching Brunson play has been amazing, but the talent surrounding him is what has sent Knicks fans over the edge. He plays alongside two of his former teammates from Villanova, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo – the three of them won the NCAA national championship together in 2018 and are known as the “Nova Knicks.”
The Nova Knicks. They've got their own nickname, huh?
These three players account for over half of the team’s points in the playoffs. During game 2 on Wednesday, Brunson left in the first quarter and MSG panicked. There was no need to worry: DiVincenzo picked up the pace, just to have Brunson come back after halftime, when they each scored over 25 points. Oh, and DiVincenzo’s nickname is “The Big Ragu,” which he got in college because he’s Italian and a redhead, presumably. Who doesn’t love a memeworthy nickname?
What should I look for in Friday’s game?
The good news is the Knicks are up 2-0 in this series. The bad news? There are some injuries. First there’s OG Anunoby, who is the Knicks' small forward and an amazing defender. He has a hamstring injury and won’t be playing on Friday and may be out for a while. Another star player, Julius Randle, suffered a season-ending injury back in January. Still, the Knicks found a way to make it this far.
The other injury is Jalen Brunson. Please don’t panic. Well, panic a little. He has been listed as “questionable,” which is NBA talk for “we don’t want to tell you until we have to.” He injured his foot during Wednesday’s game, but came back and ended up dropping 29 points to push the Knicks to a 9-point win.
This is an away game, right?
Indeed. Playing in Indianapolis isn’t going to be easy. The Pacers play better at home. On Thursday the team filed a complaint claiming 78 unfair calls by the referees during the first two games against the Knicks. The team is fired up, Pacers fans are fired up and it's likely to be a spicy game.
What happens if they win? Do they go to the NBA finals?
Not so fast. They still need to win four games out of seven games in this series against Indiana. Then they would advance to the Eastern Conference Finals and would play the winner of the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers series. If they win that, they’re in the finals.
Why is everyone saying “Bing bong”?
In 2021, the Knicks had a thrilling opening-night double-overtime win against the Celtics. After the game, a fan was interviewed by the popular Instagram show “Sidetalk” and mimicked the famous sound of New York's subway doors, which starts off every episode of the show. Millions of views later, a new Knicks phrase was born.
