ATLANTA – It took the Knicks a week to reach their first critical mass. Seven days. Three games. A week ago, Sunday morning brought with it flare-ups and optimism seldom found in Madison Square Garden. Even in a jaded basketball town, it was hard to contain a fan base’s fertile imagination:
Oh yes. You give a little hope to a Knicks fan, a little promise, they’ll ride this horse like it’s the back stretch at Aqueduct. And yet … none of those things seemed almost as Pollyannaic as they did this morning.
Julius Randle had shown enough in 72 regular season games that it was doable – probably – that he could hold the load for another five to seven Could carry games to get the Knicks with the Hawks in the first round through a series of the first round which they would get game 7 at home (if necessary).
Tom Thibodeau was absolutely the toast of town, a basketball – Whisperer who restored dignity and standards to a franchise so lost in the woods that it felt like Paulie and Christopher were chasing the Russian in the episode « Pine Barrens » of « The Sopranos. » p> Seven days and three games later, all but the most unconditional Knicks fans are looking at the Hawks and seem to be preparing their concession speeches, watching the Knicks and suddenly only seeing warts where there used to be dimples.
Seven days and dr e games later, it’s Trae Young, not Julius Randle, who picked up the series narrative, starred on his first playoff stage, shook off the defiance and spit of Garden fans and thrilled Hawks fans and proved that to be Power that a great player can offer to a team starved for leadership. Randle … well, not so much.
Seven days and three games later, some of the old questions that have shadowed Thibodeau throughout his career seem to be springing up again: « Great regular season coach, but the playoffs? » « Is he too stubborn? » « Can his team find advanced post-season equipment? »
« That’s normal, » insisted Thibodeau on Saturday. “These are the playoffs. It’s intense, the ups and downs control everything. We have to do all the things that got us here. It has a certain intensity. Focus on how we can improve and improve. “
What remains of the curtsey on the doorstep of Game 4 of this first-round best-of-seven series is this: a passionate belief in each other, in their coach and in their star, who have been unwavering all year round . For most of the year this train was easy to get on as the results spoke for themselves. This week tested that.
This week has dampened much of the goodwill Randle has built this year. A bad game, you can tell away. Two bad games … it can happen to anyone. Three? Randle shoots 24.1 percent for the series – no typo, 24.1, as in 13 against 54. He is the best player in the Knicks. Take the best player from all 16 playoff teams, have them shoot 13v54. What would these teams look like? What would the Hawks look like if Young were 13 for 54 (as opposed to 30 for 62?)
The week has been focused on Thibodeau. You will never hear anyone in these parts complain about how hard the Knicks played during the season – by and large, much harder than their opponents. However, the fear of many longtime Thibodeau-Philes was that sweat justice meant less and less after the playoffs began. Everyone plays hard in the playoffs. So far it’s hard to argue.
With that, the Knicks have a fundamental battle to save their season on Sunday afternoon at 1am. They cannot be eliminated in game 4. But a loss is sure to make it that way. A loss would mean a 3-1 hole, and no Knicks team has ever overcome a 3-1 hole. Maybe the dynamic is already too great. Maybe we already know where this is going.
Only the Knicks can change that. Randle has to play better. Thibodeau is able to reveal an ace he has hidden up his sleeve, find a way to slow Young down and stop allowing the Hawks to make an enjoyable save of wide-open 3s. Perhaps the playoff Knicks can be more similar to the regular season Knicks. If so, we can all have a completely different conversation from Monday.
© 2021 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved
Terms of Use
Data protection
Your ad choices
Page index
Your California Privacy Rights
Do not sell my personal information
Keywords:
