Knicks insist they've learned from Game 1 fold, and have moved past it
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson is defended by Indiana Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith in overtime during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
When you have to spend 48 hours listening to the critics, trying to explain away the worst postseason collapse in NBA history, it’s understandable that the Knicks would approach Friday night’s Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals maintaining that they’d put the troubles behind them.
And although it might be hard to believe most teams who would claim something like that, the Knicks might have a point.
In the run through the postseason, the Knicks have suffered heartbreaking losses — including on their home court at Madison Square Garden. They have been blown out in humiliating fashion, dropping 22- and 25-point disasters to Boston. And in each case, as panic set in around them, the Knicks managed to remain calm, insist that they were moving on to the next game, and they have yet to lose two straight games in the playoffs.
So, whether it was ignoring the leprechaun dancing in front of them in Boston or the latest meme created by this incarnation of the latest Pacers villain — Tyrese Haliburton mimicking Reggie Miller’s choke gesture — the Knicks were letting others worry about the meaning and looking forward.
“I mean, it’s our job to make history so we’re not here to repeat history,” Karl-Anthony Towns said after Game 1. “We’re here to make history, so that doesn’t pop into my mind. I have to think about the present and what we can do now so we can make our own history.”
That is what the Knicks had to put aside to move on this time, had to forget that they’d become the first team since the NBA began tracking this in 1,415 games with a nine-point lead or more to blow the lead, to let the game slip away.
“I’m pretty sure everyone’s gonna be thinking about it,” Jalen Brunson said. “But I think our mindset has to be short-term memory . . . Obviously we gotta learn from what we did, but the short-term memory comes from the disappointment and discouragement of how we lost [Wednesday] night. Just gotta be ready to go.”
“Obviously it’s disappointing,” Josh Hart said. “But we didn’t think it was going to be an easy series. That’s a tough opponent and this doesn’t change that.”
That is really the only way the Knicks could approach it. It was Game 1 and if they chose to wallow in collapse, as much of the city was, it wasn’t going to help them in Game 2. And besides, the Knicks had already been on the other side of comebacks and collapses in the last round, fighting back from deficits of 20, 20 and 14 to win and then answering a Game 5 flop by playing arguably their best game of the season.
At the heart of that is they have a coach in Tom Thibodeau and a captain in Brunson who approach historic victories and mind-numbing losses with the same attitude.
“I think win or lose, just have a short-term memory,” Brunson said. “And you get ready for Game 2, regardless. It could have been a blowout, we still gotta get ready for Game 2.”
“I think that’s the playoffs, that’s the challenge,” Thibodeau said. “You always have to reset. There’s gonna be a lot of emotional highs and lows and you’ve gotta be able to take a punch and you’ve gotta be able to bounce back. So that’s all we’re thinking about is how we move forward, be ready for the next challenge, and then what did you learn from it?”
The Knicks may not want to, but they could look to their own history, from a year ago against the Pacers, to assure themselves that a series isn’t over in one game. The Knicks were up two games to none on the Pacers last year in the Eastern Conference semifinals when everything began to change. Injuries mounted. Upsets arrived. And in Game 7 on their home court, the Knicks had to watch the Pacers celebrate.
All of the things that went wrong Wednesday were things that went wrong before. And every other time the Knicks have lifted themselves off the floor, dusted off the remnants of all of the issues — the mindless lapses on defense, the communication problems, the listless performances on nights when they never should happen — and moved forward. So the successes that got them a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter and the struggles thereafter which had them screaming on the bench in the final minute of regulation are equally insignificant to them.
Whether you chalk it up to motivation, a wake-up call or the team simply being levelheaded enough to avoid the emotional roller coaster, the Knicks have answered the call — and the skeptics — every time adversity has struck.
“We’re excited to be in this situation, to be in the Eastern Conference Finals is just a blessing,” Mikal Bridges said. “We’re excited for every game obviously. Losing that and bringing that for the next game. Even if we wouldn’t have won, I think bringing the same energy for Game 2. It’s just more knowing that there’s still another game, another day left, so we have to keep fighting.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
