The New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs, 4 games to 1, to win their first NBA Finals in 53 years.
This Game 5 Knicks victory, 94-90, was thrilling—as was their miraculous triumph in Game 4, where they fought from 29 under to go ahead in the final 1.2 seconds. In fact, they trailed by at least 10 points in the first quarter of every game in this series. Ironically, the last time they vied for the title was against the Spurs in 1999, to whom they lost, 4 games to 1.
But tonight, the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy belongs to the New York Knicks, and Captain Jalen Brunson, who scored 45 points in this finale alone, is truly the Most Valuable Player. This remarkably talented team won 16 games in the postseason, which included a span of 13 consecutive victories in which they outscored their opponents by 273 points. They defeated the Atlanta Hawks, 4 games to 2, and swept both the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers to take the Eastern Conference before facing off with these Spurs.
As Kristian Winfield wrote in the New York Daily News after the Knicks improbable win in Game 4:
Maybe playing with fire isn’t the worst thing in the world. Maybe the Knicks are pyromaniacs, fire-bending, fire-breathing basketball animals who play their best basketball only after playing their worst. … These Knicks, however, don’t die. They dig themselves holes and fight like hell to claw back from the dead. They do not burn themselves with fire. They manipulate it. They bend it. They take the very embers heating the seats beneath them and throw them into their opponents’ faces. … They are the comeback kids, grave-digging basketball undertakers who are coming for … the franchise’s first NBA title in over 50 years.
And that title is now a part of New York sports lore.
I should note that while I’m a huge baseball fan, I’ve never been a regular basketball fan. I’m now 66 and have followed the Knicks on and off for years. But I was 13 years old when they were last champs in 1973 (they also won the NBA finals in 1970). The last two years, I’ve watched their postseason games religiously, and I saw every game in this year’s terrific championship run. This iconic postseason remains among the most amazing and moving sporting events I’ve ever experienced.
Now, as for the behavior of some folks in NYC, it should be noted that the news media has had a field day highlighting the mob mentality and awful behavior of a few people in midtown the other night, when 56 people were arrested. They are hard-pressed to focus on the hundreds of thousands, indeed millions of fans who have embraced this team with joy—in watch parties across all five boroughs, from Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, Central Park, and the West Village in Manhattan to Fort Greene Park and Williamsburg in Brooklyn, to Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx—in theaters, lounges, bars, and restaurants, and in their homes, where neighbors have gathered together to cheer.
It’s been a welcome moment of unity here in New York City.
Having clinched this championship on the road, the Knicks will have a jubilant reception upon their return to the Big Apple. Bring on the parade!
Notablog 