logo
Scenes from the sidelines: Knicks faithful soaking in return to East final

Scenes from the sidelines: Knicks faithful soaking in return to East final

New York Post22-05-2025

He is a Queens kid out of Fordham, 69 years old now, who succeeded the late John Condon as PA voice of the Knicks, and his 'Pat-trick Ewing' call echoed throughout the Garden across the years.
Mike Walczewski was in his familiar seat at the scorer's table when the Knicks chased their elusive third NBA championship in 1994 in the NBA Finals against the Rockets, and again five seasons later in the Finals against the Spurs.
Advertisement
And again for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Pacers.
'I was a Mets fan growing up and a Knicks fan growing up,' Walczewski told The Post before the Knicks' choked away Game 1. 'There's just something very visceral between the fans and the team, tradition or whatever it is. It's hard to put your finger on it.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

'Overrated' Haliburton having last laugh after latest winner
'Overrated' Haliburton having last laugh after latest winner

Yahoo

time43 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

'Overrated' Haliburton having last laugh after latest winner

Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton shoots the winning basket with 0.3seconds remaining in game one of the NBA Finals (MATTHEW STOCKMAN) Two months after being named the NBA's "most overrated player" in an anonymous poll of his peers, Tyrese Haliburton is having the last laugh. The 25-year-old point guard delivered the latest in a series of game-winning moments on Thursday with a last-gasp basket as the Indiana Pacers stunned the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-110 in game one of the NBA Finals. Advertisement Haliburton's winning bucket -- with just 0.3secs remaining -- was the latest entry to an impressive catalogue of clutch shots he has pulled off since the playoffs got under way. The Pacers talisman has now made a go-ahead or game-tying basket in the final five seconds of regulation or overtime on four separate occasions during the postseason. "I'm obviously confident in my ability and feel like if I can get to that spot, I feel very comfortable in there," Haliburton said of his winner. "It's a shot I've worked on a million times and I'll work on it a million times more. Just have confidence in that shot." Advertisement Haliburton's winner came after the NBA's newly crowned Most Valuable Player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, had missed a 15-foot jump shot that would have given OKC a three-point cushion with 11 seconds left. Ironically,the same player poll in The Athletic in April which dubbed Haliburton "overrated" had overwhelmingly backed Gilgeous-Alexander as front-runner for MVP. Haliburton did not even feature in the shortlist of contenders. - 'Ultimate confidence' - Indiana center Myles Turner says Haliburton is at his best when the chips are down, relishing the pressure of when a games is on the line. Advertisement "Ultimate, ultimate confidence in himself," is how Turner described Haliburton. "Some players will say they have it but there's other players that show it, and he's going to let you know about it, too. He's a baller and a hooper and really just a gamer. "When it comes to the moments, he wants the ball. He wants to be the one to hit that shot. He doesn't shy away from the moment and very important this time of the year to have a go-to guy. He just keeps finding a way and we keep putting the ball in the right positions and the rest is history." Haliburton's knack of delivering under pressure has become emblematic of a Pacers side that gives the impression of a team that has forgotten how to lose. Thursday's comeback marked the fifth time during these playoffs when the team has recovered from a 15-point-or-greater deficit to win. Advertisement "Through the course of the game it felt like it could get ugly," Haliburton reflected afterwards. "I thought we did a great job of just walking them down. When it gets to 15, you can panic or you can talk about how do we get it to 10 and how do we get it to five and from there. "I don't know what you say about it but I know that this group is a resilient group and we don't give up until it's 0.0 on the clock." Andrew Nembhard said the Pacers had remained calm despite a shaky first half performance in which they coughed up nearly 20 turnovers. "We stay connected," Nembhard said. "We're going to play until the whistle blows." rcw/bb

Mavericks Rumors: Trade Idea Lands Dallas Perfect Kyrie Irving Replacement
Mavericks Rumors: Trade Idea Lands Dallas Perfect Kyrie Irving Replacement

Newsweek

timean hour ago

  • Newsweek

Mavericks Rumors: Trade Idea Lands Dallas Perfect Kyrie Irving Replacement

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Dallas Mavericks have been in the headlines over the past few months for multiple reasons. After trading away star guard Luka Doncic, Dallas received all sorts of backlash. But then the team surprisingly won the 2025 NBA Draft lottery, and will now have the chance to land Duke star Cooper Flagg. It has been a long few months for Dallas, including seeing star Kyrie Irving go down with a torn ACL. Irving is expected to miss the majority of next season due to the injury, and Dallas will need to find a way to replace his production. One option could be a trade, and it could come from a familiar source. NBA insider Sam Vecenie discussed a potential trade idea between the Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers while on "The Game Theory Podcast". Vecenie proposes the two teams swap guard Austin Reaves for center Dereck Lively. "He is a top-40 player in the league, something like that. I think he is so good, I think he is a monster. He has one year left on his contract before he gets quite expensive here. He is going to get very, very expensive moving forward. Is there anything around just Dereck Lively, who has played with Luka, who we know has great synergy with Luka, for Austin Reaves?", he said. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 16: Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns handles the ball against Austin Reaves #15 of the Los Angeles Lakers in the second half at Arena on March 16,... LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 16: Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns handles the ball against Austin Reaves #15 of the Los Angeles Lakers in the second half at Arena on March 16, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. ( More Photo byOn the surface, this deal doesn't look like a great one for the Lakers. But with Reaves' upcoming free agency, Los Angeles could cash in on landing a center for the future. It remains to be seen whether the Lakers are willing to pay Reaves over $30 million to keep him in town. This has led to many around the league speculating about Los Angeles looking to move on from him at some point before he hits the open market. Reaves could take over for the injured Irving in handling the backcourt duties. The guard could give Dallas a legitimate option to run the offense until Irving returns from injury. More NBA news: Thunder Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Speaks Out Following NBA Finals Game 1 Collapse Moving on from Lively would also help break up the logjam that the Mavericks are expected to have in the frontcourt. Lively would instantly become the centerpiece for the Lakers, and he has plenty of experience playing alongside Doncic. This could be a win-win for both sides, but the Lakers may want more in return for Reaves. Los Angeles has been fairly adamant about not moving him unless they receive a true star in return. If Dallas were to include some other pieces, then a deal could maybe get done. But for now, Reaves is expected to remain with Los Angeles, entering a contract year. More NBA news: NBA Analyst Floats Knicks Theory Regarding Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jason Kidd Warriors Trade Idea Lands 2-Time All-Star in Massive Offseason Move For more on the Mavericks, Lakers, and general NBA news, head over to Newsweek Sports.

The French Open Finals Are Dream Matchups—Here's Who's Playing (and How Coco Gauff Can Win)
The French Open Finals Are Dream Matchups—Here's Who's Playing (and How Coco Gauff Can Win)

Vogue

timean hour ago

  • Vogue

The French Open Finals Are Dream Matchups—Here's Who's Playing (and How Coco Gauff Can Win)

A little bit less than two weeks after the tournament kicked off in Paris, the French Open finals are now set: tomorrow at 9 a.m. ET, world number one and first-seeded Aryna Sabalenka squares off against the tournament's second seed and the world's second-ranked player, Coco Gauff, while world number one and first-seeded Jannik Sinner faces world number two and second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday morning at the same time. If that lineup seems somehow inevitable, the road there has been anything but: The Italian sensation Lorenzo Musetti seemed ready to derail Alcaraz in their semifinal earlier today, taking the first set and forcing a tiebreak in the second before a left thigh strain forced him to concede the match to Alcaraz early in the fourth set—a heartbreaking conclusion to a thrilling tournament run. (The Musetti fans in the stands wearing wigs in the colors of the Italian flag were particularly bereft.) Sinner's semifinal against three-time French Open champion Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, was a tense, if straightforward, neck-and-neck war of attrition, with Sinner (who hasn't lost a set so far in the tournament) more outlasting Djokovic (who was treated on-court for his own left-thigh issues early in the third set) than outplaying him. On the women's side, both Sabalenka and Gauff have had a mostly charmed run through the draw at Roland-Garros, with Sabalenka looking momentarily flummoxed by the three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek before swinging for the fences in their third set and dominating. Gauff, meanwhile, has been on a roll through most of the clay-court season and stormed her way through to the finals here. The story of the tournament on the women's side, though, was the improbable and seemingly impossible run of Lois Boisson, the French woman who had played a single match on the WTA tour before Roland-Garros but nonetheless battled her way to the semifinals, dispatching third-ranked Jessica Pegula and sixth-ranked Mirra Andreeva before being stopped in her tracks by Gauff. Ranked 361st at the start of the tourney, Boisson will jump to 65th—and her career earnings of about $148,000 will take a similar jump (her check for making the semifinals is about $780,000). So who's going to win? I'm delighted to report that this year, that answer is more up-in-the-air than ever: While Alcaraz holds a 7-4 record against Sinner, they've only played each other on clay three times, with Alcaraz taking two of them. On the other hand, it's Sinner, not Alcaraz, who's looked more indomitable lately. Yes, Alcaraz may play with the crowd-pleasing pyrotechnics, but Sinner's consistency is the reason he's ranked first in the world. However, with Sinner pushed hard physically by Djokovic in the semis while Alcaraz faced what amounted to only two competitive sets, we're giving the conditioning and stamina edge to Alcaraz. Will that be enough? Given that he already outclasses everybody in this regard, it should be a superpower on Sunday: Carlos in four sets.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store