Battle-tested Knicks ready for challenge of high-scoring Pacers
Let’s get this out of the way first — 11 hours.
That’s the estimated drive time from Madison Square Garden to Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. For any of the Knicks fans who traveled to Philadelphia to execute loud takeovers of the Wells Fargo Center for three games in the opening round of the NBA playoffs, that's what it will take to repeat it for next Friday’s Game 3 on the road.
It’s a relatively straight drive, clear highways to the Midwest, a much easier path than the Knicks took to get there as they finished off the 76ers in six games, capped by a street fight of a final test in a 118-115 win on Thursday. The Knicks rode through every dark alley, hit every speed bump at breakneck speed and survived and advanced, which is exactly what we’ve come to expect from this overachieving squad.
If you wonder why they have captured the hearts of long-suffering Knicks fans, then you only had to watch Game 6. The Knicks went into a hostile environment and blasted out of the starting blocks to take a 33-11 lead, only to fall behind by 10 before delivering every clutch play down the stretch, led by the unlikely trio of college teammates — Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo.
Brunson has ascended to unforeseen levels of stardom this season and took that to an even higher level in this series, finding his achievements linked to the rarefied air traveled only by the likes of Michael Jordan and LeBron James, But Hart delivered the deciding three-point field goal in the last minute and DiVincenzo never came out of the game, shadowing Tyrese Maxey all over the court and outscoring him on the other end. No lottery picks among them, but they just outworked and outfought the 76ers in a series of nail-biting performances.
New Yorkers like to picture themselves as fighting a battle for survival most days. The lyrics to "New York, New York" — ''If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere''— didn’t just come out of nowhere, and this team embodies that. While some teams tanked their way through the final days of the season — hello Cleveland and Milwaukee — to avoid a first-round meeting with the 76ers, the Knicks played every game to win, earning the No. 2 seed and home-court advantage for at least the first two rounds of the playoffs.
“They’re a really good team,” DiVincenzo said of the 76ers. “They have really good players and they’re really well-coached. They’re not a — what are they, seven seed? — they’re not a normal seven seed. Going into the first round, we knew it was going to be an uphill battle. There was back and forth between the teams in terms of the media and stuff, you knew it was heightened. But you know, the thing about this group, no matter what, the adversity, we’ve had it all year long. Our frontcourt has been out for almost half the year. Everybody says we’re too small. You outwork, you stay together and this is what happens.”
By meeting that challenge, the Knicks now face a Pacers team in the Eastern Conference semifinals that is a threat, thanks to a fast-paced offense capable of running teams out of the arena. Indiana beat the Knicks in two of their three meetings this season, but with time to measure that speed on the floor in a playoff series, the Knicks have lived up to that kind of test. Add in that their best and most versatile defender, OG Anunoby, didn’t play in any of those games, and the Knicks believe they can get through this test, too.
“No matter what the situation is, we’re going to attack it,” Brunson said. “I just think that no matter who’s in front of us or whatever, we’re going to go out there, play our style of basketball. We’re going to grind.
“We’re going to respect our opponent. We’re going to know it’s always going to be a difficult situation no matter who you’re playing in this league. So going into this [first round], we knew it was going to be a grind and we just found ways to win — and found ways to lose, too. It’s always going to be something we’re going to continue to learn every single time we’re on the court. So it doesn’t really matter the situation or the team. We just know every situation is different and we need to approach it with the same mentality.”
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.
