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Forbes
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Knicks Seek To Prolong Their Best Season In 25 Years
Entering Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals Thursday night, the New York Knicks listed Karl-Anthony Towns as questionable, a major issue considering a loss would end the team's season. The 7-foot All-Star, who sustained a left knee injury in the previous game, didn't participate in his normal pregame shooting routine, either. Still, after helping the Knicks defeat the Indiana Pacers 111-94 to cut their deficit to three games to two, Towns said he knew all along he would play. 'I looked at the game and it said Game 5, do or die,' Towns said. 'That was pretty much all I needed to see.' Now, Towns and the Knicks will have another chance to prolong their season and pursue the franchise's first NBA title since 1973. On Saturday night, the Knicks play the Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Pacers are looking to advance to their first NBA Finals since 2000, while the Knicks haven't played in the Finals since 1999. The Knicks are seeking to become just the 14th team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit and win a 7-game series. The franchise is 0-14 all-time when falling behind 3-1 and has forced a Game 7 only twice in those scenarios: in the 1951 NBA Finals to the Rochester Royals and in the 1995 conference semifinals to the Pacers. Back then, the Knicks defeated the Pacers 96-95 in Game 5 when star center Patrick Ewing made a game-winning jumper with 1.8 seconds remaining to keep the Knicks' season alive. Thirty years later, Ewing was back for another Game 5 at Madison Square Garden Thursday night as a spectator. This time, the Knicks didn't need any Game 5 heroics as they dominated from the start and never trailed. Point guard Jalen Brunson scored the game's first six points and scored 16 in the first quarter. Towns had 12 points and seven rebounds in the second quarter alone, giving the Knicks a 56-45 lead at halftime. The Knicks then led by double digits throughout the second half, a welcome respite for the home fans who had seen the team lose the first two games at Madison Square Garden, including blowing an eight-point lead with less than 40 seconds remaining in Game 1. Brunson finished with a game-high 32 points on 12 of 18 shooting and added 5 assists. He is averaging 30.1 points and 7 assists per game in the playoffs, including 33 points and 5.4 assists in the Pacers series. With Thursday's performance, he joined Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the only players in NBA history with at least 30 points and 5 assists in 10 playoff games in one season. Towns, meanwhile, had 24 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Despite his knee injury, he was aggressive on offense, a change from many other games when he settled for long jumpers and 3's. On Thursday, seven of his 10 field goals were layups, while the others were a dunk, a driving 4-foot floater and a 3. Towns, though, admitted afterwards that he needs to do a better job of not committing fouls. During an interview with TNT's Inside the NBA program, Charles Barkley asked why Towns committed 'dumb fouls,' while Shaquille O'Neal said he was going to ask the same question. 'God only knows,' Towns replied. He added: 'I've got to do a much better job of that…You ain't wrong. That hurts our team.' On Thursday, Towns was called for his fourth foul midway through the quarter, sending him to the bench with the Knicks up by 20 points. The Pacers then went on a 12-2 run to cut their deficit to 74-64 before Knicks forward Precious Achiuwa entered the game to replace center Mitchell Robinson, whom the Pacers had intentionally fouled the previous possession due to Robinson's poor free throw shooting. Even with Towns and Robinson off the court, the Knicks extended their lead, thanks in part to Achiuwa, who had a floater and steal and played strong defense as New York ended the third quarter ahead 90-73. It was only the second time Achiuwa played this series, but Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau is becoming more comfortable with his reserves. For the past three games, the Knicks have inserted Robinson in the starting lineup, replacing Josh Hart, who averaged more than 37 minutes per game in the regular season and started all 77 regular season games he dressed for and the team's first 14 playoff games. Hart on Thursday had 12 points and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes, while three other reserves (Miles McBride, Landry Shamet and Delon Wright) each played more than 10 minutes. Wright missed all four of his shots, but he had three assists, no turnovers and a steal in 10 minutes and 13 seconds. Wright also played 13:20 and 9:04 in Games 3 and 4, respectively, but he had only appeared in two of the Knicks' first 14 playoff games for a total of 3:32 without having a field goal attempt, rebound or assist. McBride, who along with Robinson were the only two bench players to have much of a role in the previous two series, had 5 points Thursday in 18:14, while Shamet scored 5 points in 14:14, the most time he has seen all playoffs. During the fourth quarter, the MSG crowd even shouted Shamet's name, showing their appreciation for the little-used player. 'I think everyone on the team is just continuously ready for their moment,' Towns said. 'Even the guys who don't play and that haven't gotten a minute in these last two games, what they bring to our bench and the life they bring to our team can't be understated. It can't be undervalued. One through 15, everybody's doing an amazing job wanting to win and being there for each other. This team's special.' Towns added that the Knicks 'haven't been able to close out games the way we wanted to,' but that changed on Thursday when they excelled on both ends of the floor. The Pacers scored fewer than 100 points for the first time this postseason, made a playoffs-low 40.5% of their shots and had 20 turnovers, including 14 in the second half. Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who had 32 points, 15 assists, 12 rebounds and no turnovers in Indiana's 130-121 Game 4 victory, scored only 8 points on 2 of 7 shooting. Forward Aaron Nesmith, who had 30 points and made 8 3's in Game 1, had 3 points on 1 of 8 field goals and only played 15:52 as he was limited with a right ankle sprain. 'We didn't play with the level of force that we needed to,' Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. 'We lost the rebound battle, we lost the turnover battle, we didn't shoot well. They had a lot to do with it, so give them credit. We're going to have to play much better.' The loss snapped Indiana's six-game road winning streak in the playoffs and extended the tight series. While the Knicks won by 17 on Thursday, the first three games were decided by six points or fewer while the Knicks were within six points with less than three minutes remaining in Game 4 before the Pacers took control. The Knicks are facing long odds even though they have outscored the Pacers by a total of six points in the first five games. No team has ever lost the first two games at home in the conference finals and won the series. Still, the Knicks have won six of their eight road playoff games and are determined to get back to MSG for Game 7 Monday night, continuing their memorable season and playoff run.
CNN
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
The Knicks are bringing hope and title dreams back to New York after years in the doldrums
Jesús Velázquez still has his old John Starks jersey at home. He remembers the New York Knicks going to the NBA Finals in 1994, Patrick Ewing's infamous 'finger roll' in 1995 and all the on-court fights with the Miami Heat. Last Friday night, Velázquez was one of hundreds of fans who waited in the rain to watch Game 2 against the Indiana Pacers in Central Park. Velázquez has fond memories of the good times in the '90s but also remembers the bad, which defined the team for most of the last 25 years. As bad as those times were, they don't compare to watching his team so close to the NBA Finals - even if they did lose on Tuesday night and are now a heartbeat away from elimination. 'I never once put my paper bag on, but it came close,' Velázquez, 56, a long-suffering New York fan from Queens, told CNN Sports. As heartbreak and desperation faded to failure over an excruciating 25-year period, Knicks fans are now overwhelmed, knowing their team has a chance at winning a championship soon – even as they face a 3-1 series deficit to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals. The return to sustained relevancy –- something that seemed next-to-impossible for over two decades –- is new for younger fans who never saw the beloved '90s90's teams. Those teams never won, but coming close became good enough for their older counterparts who clung to the memories of 'almost' winning and tightened their grip on nostalgia as the hopelessness increased. 'It's been a long drought. It's been a heartbreaking drought because it's not like we haven't been close,' Velázquez said. 'Last year, it was finally good to hear that song 'Go NY Go' because before it was not something you wanted to blast on your radio.' This is the first time in 25 years that the Knicks have gone this far in the playoffs, but the gut punches the team and their fans have taken dates back further. From Michael Jordan's three-peats to Reggie Miller scoring eight points in nine seconds, followed by Patrick Ewing's missed layup in 1995 and the injury-riddled squad willing itself to the Finals in 1999, only to get crushed by the San Antonio Spurs, fans have had hope and then watched it get swatted away. Those heartbreaking moments led to the slow and steady decline that started in the 2000s. Each move the Knicks made – whether it was bringing in Isiah Thomas as president of basketball operations in late 2003, trading for Brooklyn's own Stephon Marbury, or then Knicks president Phil Jackson drafting Kristaps Porziņģis – the fleeting hope always gave way to despair. The consecutive sellout streak of Madison Square Garden was gone and so were the A-list stars. The Carmelo Anthony-led Knicks had a brief resurgence, even making the second round of the playoffs before they lost in six games to the Indiana Pacers in 2013. Jeremy Lin in 2012 caught fire and famously scored 38 points to beat the Kobe Bryant-led Los Angeles Lakers as one of the highlights of the short-lived 'Linsanity' era. But from that point, it was quiet at Madison Square Garden – until now. Despite being down 3-1 in the series, the Knicks are playing in the Eastern Conference Finals, something they haven't done in 25 years. 'It's decades of disappointment coming out. That's what I hear,' author Paul Knepper told CNN of the cheers coming from Knicks fans. Knepper, a longtime Knicks supporter, took his fandom several steps further and wrote 'The Knicks of the Nineties.' The book chronicles the rise and fall of what could be considered the golden era of Knicks basketball for those who weren't old enough to see Willis Reed hobble onto the Madison Square Garden hardwood for the championship clinching game against the Lakers in 1970 or the subsequent title in 1973. Knepper, who grew up on Long Island, was watching Game 1 against the Pacers with his wife in Austin, Texas, where they live. Knepper said she's not a Knicks fan but roots for them, even though the anxiety and pressure of seeing the historic collapse was almost too painful to watch. 'She's like, 'I don't know how you do this. This is terrible. How do you watch games like this?' And I said, 'I've felt this pain before,'' Knepper said. 'I felt this pain with Reggie Miller. I felt this pain when Charles Smith couldn't make a layup in 1993 against the Bulls. I'm familiar with this pain.' Knepper says he hears both joy and relief in the screams and cheers from fans. 'I don't hear the Carmelo Anthony or the Jeremy Lin era. I hear Phil Jackson and trading Porziņģis and Charles Oakley getting kicked out of the Garden, which, for me, I think, personally, was probably the lowest point in this whole terrible, extended era,' Knepper told CNN Sports. 'That's the kind of stuff that I hear. I hear all of the times there was some degree of hope.' Images of an army of Knicks fans spilling out into the streets flooded social media after the Knicks beat the defending champion Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the second round. Timothée Chalamet lowered the window of his SUV and dapped up fans as he left the building and Spike Lee was smiling ear to ear as he left the Garden – all while roughly 3,000 fans cheered in the streets. Nothing was damaged and there were only five arrests for disorderly conduct, according to a law enforcement officials. 'Everybody wants more, obviously, but this wasn't just hope. This was hope fulfilled,' Knepper said. 'We did it. We knocked off the defending champion Celtics. We're in the conference finals. That's what I hear when I think of it. Finally, after all these years, all these disappointments, finally, we broke through, and we're in the conference finals, and we're legitimate championship contenders.' The vibe around the team wasn't always so optimistic. Former New York Daily News reporter Frank Isola covered the Knicks for the hometown newspaper and remembers the slow and excruciating decay at Madison Square Garden. 'We went from covering a team that every year, we held to the standard of winning a championship. Now, it's like, they're losing all these games, everyone's kind of miserable, and we're writing about it, and everyone's getting mad,' Isola says. 'The players and management are getting mad that we're writing about how much the team sucks. I always thought that was weird.' Isola believes the team looks to have finally got it right, making shrewd moves like signing Jalen Brunson as a free agent, who was seen running around on the Garden hardwood as a toddler when his father, now a coach on the team, was the 12th man on the roster. Current Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau was also an assistant coach the last time the Knicks went to the NBA Finals in 1999. 'What's interesting about this team is you do have a connection to the last team that went to the finals, because Thibodeau was an assistant coach under (former coach Jeff) Van Gundy. Brunson was on the team as the 12th man, which is interesting, I guess, since (his son Jalen) is now the first man on the team now,' Isola says. 'Having the coach and the star point guard kind of understand the way that it works in New York is important.' This is the third year in a row New York has made the playoffs and each year the team has added players and improved its regular season record, something fans haven't experienced since the 1990s. The improvement has led to a raucous crowd both inside MSG and after games on Seventh Avenue. 'I've always cherished the Garden in May. I've always thought the Garden in May is the epitome of sports,' iconic sports talk pioneer Mike Francesa told CNN about Knicks playoff basketball. The legendary New York radio host made the Garden a second home during Knicks playoff runs while he was still doing his afternoon radio show in New York. This was especially true in the 1994 Finals run when he and his partner, Chris 'Mad Dog' Russo, broadcasted from MSG before playoff games. Francesa says he's been courtside to watch iconic moments in Knickerbocker history during that time, like Reggie Miller's eight points in nine seconds barrage in 1995. 'I think it's exactly the same,' Francesa said of the energy inside Madison Square Garden. 'I don't think there's any difference. You close your eyes and you're there.' Francesa said he was in the building when the Knicks won Game 4 against Boston this year. The difference between now and then was the expectation of that old team, led by Knicks icon Patrick Ewing and legendary coach Pat Riley. 'That night, to me, it could have been the Riley '90s,' Francesa said. 'That's how it was, almost exactly the same energy.' Francesa has seen the Knicks battle the Pacers in very intense and drama-filled matchups. Whether it was the Knicks winning in 1994, which featured Reggie Miller jawing with Spike Lee and taunting everyone by using the choke sign or in 1995 when the Pacers won and Ewing missed a last second layup, known as the infamous 'finger roll' to lose the series. This Knicks-Pacers series has so far been a nostalgia tour, featuring the same intensity, hard fouls and a nod to the old school, with Tyrese Haliburton using that same Miller choke celebration when he sent Game 1 into overtime. It was a shot that left the former Pacers sharpshooter, who was doing color commentary on the TNT national broadcast, giggling and speechless as Haliburton wrapped his hands around his neck and bugged his eyes out at the Garden crowd. Francesa told CNN the series has taken on a life of its own and so far featured enough drama for both the die-hard fans and those who stopped watching when the team had no chance to win. 'If you were in your 20s then (during the '90s), and you're 50 now, I think you have a real good grasp for what this is. And you've waited a very long time, and they've now drawn you back in, maybe for the first time,' Francesa added. 'Maybe they drew you back in last year, and now this year, you were casual about it, and then now, here they come again. And now you've been drawn in in a real way. And I think that's real.' Francesa is not a Knicks fan, but he rooted for players and coaches he knew well, like current Miami Heat executive Riley. The pair were close friends until Francesa and Russo criticized the then coach for leaving the Knicks following the heartbreaking 1995 season, according to the talk radio personality. Riley has gone on to win three NBA championships with Miami. Meanwhile, the Knicks never got as close to winning a championship since the legendary coach left. Years later, the two had a poolside sit-down at a Los Angeles hotel to bury the hatchet and the two-hour conversation still wasn't enough to patch things up, Francesa said. Still, Francesa, who has missed the excitement of a Knicks playoff run, doesn't want it to end and may even bring his kids to the NBA Finals – if the Knicks can come back and make it. 'This definitely brought me back to the '90s, especially to the Riley years,' Francesa says. 'I mean, Van Gundy had some real fun days and a lot of wild days, but this really brought me back to the Riley days. And the Riley days, I remember with great affection for the intensity, the energy, how special they were. They were special.' Meanwhile, fans have been glued to the games, with watch parties in Central Park and inside Madison Square Garden for Game 3, which the Knicks won behind a massive fourth-quarter performance from Karl-Anthony Towns. 'I'm feeling like the new team is giving the same '90s vibes. This is like an older blue collar Knicks team. It kind of has the same vibe. I hope they pull it off because these games are getting a little crazy,' said Rob Jurman, 46. 'This is better than missing the playoffs. They were so bad for so long. This is so much better.' Scott Caige, 64, is old enough to have seen the last Knicks championship. Caige said he isn't a Knicks fan, but he's rooting for them now, especially for star guard Jalen Brunson. 'Just to have a big city with a big market team not win a championship in so long, it feels like a fluke, but this might be the year,' Caige said. The Pacers lead the series 3-1 after Haliburton had a historic performance in Game 4 to lead Indiana to a 130-121 win in Indianapolis. The Knicks have to win in Game 5 or else they become the latest painful chapter in Knicks history. Knepper, however, said the fans have already won. 'If the Miami Heat went to the conference finals, there just wouldn't be the outpouring of joy,' Knepper told CNN. 'They've had a really nice 25- to 30-year run. Obviously, if you're the Warriors, when you go to the conference finals, people aren't celebrating in the streets. 'Any team that has had a decent amount of success over the last couple of decades, the fanbase isn't going to react that way because it hasn't been this pent-up disappointment and bottled up enthusiasm just waiting to explode. And now it's like, 'OK, we can explode. We can let it out. We can express joy.'' Velázquez, who also attended the watch party outside of the Garden and found himself as one of the roughly 3,000 fans flooding Seventh Avenue after the Knicks beat the Celtics, agrees. 'I had people telling me on Facebook, 'You're acting like you won the championship.' Well you know what, we did,' Velázquez said with a laugh. 'As New York Knicks fans, we're not promised tomorrow. We haven't partied like this in 25 years.'
CNN
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
The Knicks are bringing hope and title dreams back to New York after years in the doldrums
Jesús Velázquez still has his old John Starks jersey at home. He remembers the New York Knicks going to the NBA Finals in 1994, Patrick Ewing's infamous 'finger roll' in 1995 and all the on-court fights with the Miami Heat. Last Friday night, Velázquez was one of hundreds of fans who waited in the rain to watch Game 2 against the Indiana Pacers in Central Park. Velázquez has fond memories of the good times in the '90s but also remembers the bad, which defined the team for most of the last 25 years. As bad as those times were, they don't compare to watching his team so close to the NBA Finals - even if they did lose on Tuesday night and are now a heartbeat away from elimination. 'I never once put my paper bag on, but it came close,' Velázquez, 56, a long-suffering New York fan from Queens, told CNN Sports. As heartbreak and desperation faded to failure over an excruciating 25-year period, Knicks fans are now overwhelmed, knowing their team has a chance at winning a championship soon – even as they face a 3-1 series deficit to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals. The return to sustained relevancy –- something that seemed next-to-impossible for over two decades –- is new for younger fans who never saw the beloved '90s90's teams. Those teams never won, but coming close became good enough for their older counterparts who clung to the memories of 'almost' winning and tightened their grip on nostalgia as the hopelessness increased. 'It's been a long drought. It's been a heartbreaking drought because it's not like we haven't been close,' Velázquez said. 'Last year, it was finally good to hear that song 'Go NY Go' because before it was not something you wanted to blast on your radio.' This is the first time in 25 years that the Knicks have gone this far in the playoffs, but the gut punches the team and their fans have taken dates back further. From Michael Jordan's three-peats to Reggie Miller scoring eight points in nine seconds, followed by Patrick Ewing's missed layup in 1995 and the injury-riddled squad willing itself to the Finals in 1999, only to get crushed by the San Antonio Spurs, fans have had hope and then watched it get swatted away. Those heartbreaking moments led to the slow and steady decline that started in the 2000s. Each move the Knicks made – whether it was bringing in Isiah Thomas as president of basketball operations in late 2003, trading for Brooklyn's own Stephon Marbury, or then Knicks president Phil Jackson drafting Kristaps Porziņģis – the fleeting hope always gave way to despair. The consecutive sellout streak of Madison Square Garden was gone and so were the A-list stars. The Carmelo Anthony-led Knicks had a brief resurgence, even making the second round of the playoffs before they lost in six games to the Indiana Pacers in 2013. Jeremy Lin in 2012 caught fire and famously scored 38 points to beat the Kobe Bryant-led Los Angeles Lakers as one of the highlights of the short-lived 'Linsanity' era. But from that point, it was quiet at Madison Square Garden – until now. Despite being down 3-1 in the series, the Knicks are playing in the Eastern Conference Finals, something they haven't done in 25 years. 'It's decades of disappointment coming out. That's what I hear,' author Paul Knepper told CNN of the cheers coming from Knicks fans. Knepper, a longtime Knicks supporter, took his fandom several steps further and wrote 'The Knicks of the Nineties.' The book chronicles the rise and fall of what could be considered the golden era of Knicks basketball for those who weren't old enough to see Willis Reed hobble onto the Madison Square Garden hardwood for the championship clinching game against the Lakers in 1970 or the subsequent title in 1973. Knepper, who grew up on Long Island, was watching Game 1 against the Pacers with his wife in Austin, Texas, where they live. Knepper said she's not a Knicks fan but roots for them, even though the anxiety and pressure of seeing the historic collapse was almost too painful to watch. 'She's like, 'I don't know how you do this. This is terrible. How do you watch games like this?' And I said, 'I've felt this pain before,'' Knepper said. 'I felt this pain with Reggie Miller. I felt this pain when Charles Smith couldn't make a layup in 1993 against the Bulls. I'm familiar with this pain.' Knepper says he hears both joy and relief in the screams and cheers from fans. 'I don't hear the Carmelo Anthony or the Jeremy Lin era. I hear Phil Jackson and trading Porziņģis and Charles Oakley getting kicked out of the Garden, which, for me, I think, personally, was probably the lowest point in this whole terrible, extended era,' Knepper told CNN Sports. 'That's the kind of stuff that I hear. I hear all of the times there was some degree of hope.' Images of an army of Knicks fans spilling out into the streets flooded social media after the Knicks beat the defending champion Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the second round. Timothée Chalamet lowered the window of his SUV and dapped up fans as he left the building and Spike Lee was smiling ear to ear as he left the Garden – all while roughly 3,000 fans cheered in the streets. Nothing was damaged and there were only five arrests for disorderly conduct, according to a law enforcement officials. 'Everybody wants more, obviously, but this wasn't just hope. This was hope fulfilled,' Knepper said. 'We did it. We knocked off the defending champion Celtics. We're in the conference finals. That's what I hear when I think of it. Finally, after all these years, all these disappointments, finally, we broke through, and we're in the conference finals, and we're legitimate championship contenders.' The vibe around the team wasn't always so optimistic. Former New York Daily News reporter Frank Isola covered the Knicks for the hometown newspaper and remembers the slow and excruciating decay at Madison Square Garden. 'We went from covering a team that every year, we held to the standard of winning a championship. Now, it's like, they're losing all these games, everyone's kind of miserable, and we're writing about it, and everyone's getting mad,' Isola says. 'The players and management are getting mad that we're writing about how much the team sucks. I always thought that was weird.' Isola believes the team looks to have finally got it right, making shrewd moves like signing Jalen Brunson as a free agent, who was seen running around on the Garden hardwood as a toddler when his father, now a coach on the team, was the 12th man on the roster. Current Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau was also an assistant coach the last time the Knicks went to the NBA Finals in 1999. 'What's interesting about this team is you do have a connection to the last team that went to the finals, because Thibodeau was an assistant coach under (former coach Jeff) Van Gundy. Brunson was on the team as the 12th man, which is interesting, I guess, since (his son Jalen) is now the first man on the team now,' Isola says. 'Having the coach and the star point guard kind of understand the way that it works in New York is important.' This is the third year in a row New York has made the playoffs and each year the team has added players and improved its regular season record, something fans haven't experienced since the 1990s. The improvement has led to a raucous crowd both inside MSG and after games on Seventh Avenue. 'I've always cherished the Garden in May. I've always thought the Garden in May is the epitome of sports,' iconic sports talk pioneer Mike Francesa told CNN about Knicks playoff basketball. The legendary New York radio host made the Garden a second home during Knicks playoff runs while he was still doing his afternoon radio show in New York. This was especially true in the 1994 Finals run when he and his partner, Chris 'Mad Dog' Russo, broadcasted from MSG before playoff games. Francesa says he's been courtside to watch iconic moments in Knickerbocker history during that time, like Reggie Miller's eight points in nine seconds barrage in 1995. 'I think it's exactly the same,' Francesa said of the energy inside Madison Square Garden. 'I don't think there's any difference. You close your eyes and you're there.' Francesa said he was in the building when the Knicks won Game 4 against Boston this year. The difference between now and then was the expectation of that old team, led by Knicks icon Patrick Ewing and legendary coach Pat Riley. 'That night, to me, it could have been the Riley '90s,' Francesa said. 'That's how it was, almost exactly the same energy.' Francesa has seen the Knicks battle the Pacers in very intense and drama-filled matchups. Whether it was the Knicks winning in 1994, which featured Reggie Miller jawing with Spike Lee and taunting everyone by using the choke sign or in 1995 when the Pacers won and Ewing missed a last second layup, known as the infamous 'finger roll' to lose the series. This Knicks-Pacers series has so far been a nostalgia tour, featuring the same intensity, hard fouls and a nod to the old school, with Tyrese Haliburton using that same Miller choke celebration when he sent Game 1 into overtime. It was a shot that left the former Pacers sharpshooter, who was doing color commentary on the TNT national broadcast, giggling and speechless as Haliburton wrapped his hands around his neck and bugged his eyes out at the Garden crowd. Francesa told CNN the series has taken on a life of its own and so far featured enough drama for both the die-hard fans and those who stopped watching when the team had no chance to win. 'If you were in your 20s then (during the '90s), and you're 50 now, I think you have a real good grasp for what this is. And you've waited a very long time, and they've now drawn you back in, maybe for the first time,' Francesa added. 'Maybe they drew you back in last year, and now this year, you were casual about it, and then now, here they come again. And now you've been drawn in in a real way. And I think that's real.' Francesa is not a Knicks fan, but he rooted for players and coaches he knew well, like current Miami Heat executive Riley. The pair were close friends until Francesa and Russo criticized the then coach for leaving the Knicks following the heartbreaking 1995 season, according to the talk radio personality. Riley has gone on to win three NBA championships with Miami. Meanwhile, the Knicks never got as close to winning a championship since the legendary coach left. Years later, the two had a poolside sit-down at a Los Angeles hotel to bury the hatchet and the two-hour conversation still wasn't enough to patch things up, Francesa said. Still, Francesa, who has missed the excitement of a Knicks playoff run, doesn't want it to end and may even bring his kids to the NBA Finals – if the Knicks can come back and make it. 'This definitely brought me back to the '90s, especially to the Riley years,' Francesa says. 'I mean, Van Gundy had some real fun days and a lot of wild days, but this really brought me back to the Riley days. And the Riley days, I remember with great affection for the intensity, the energy, how special they were. They were special.' Meanwhile, fans have been glued to the games, with watch parties in Central Park and inside Madison Square Garden for Game 3, which the Knicks won behind a massive fourth-quarter performance from Karl-Anthony Towns. 'I'm feeling like the new team is giving the same '90s vibes. This is like an older blue collar Knicks team. It kind of has the same vibe. I hope they pull it off because these games are getting a little crazy,' said Rob Jurman, 46. 'This is better than missing the playoffs. They were so bad for so long. This is so much better.' Scott Caige, 64, is old enough to have seen the last Knicks championship. Caige said he isn't a Knicks fan, but he's rooting for them now, especially for star guard Jalen Brunson. 'Just to have a big city with a big market team not win a championship in so long, it feels like a fluke, but this might be the year,' Caige said. The Pacers lead the series 3-1 after Haliburton had a historic performance in Game 4 to lead Indiana to a 130-121 win in Indianapolis. The Knicks have to win in Game 5 or else they become the latest painful chapter in Knicks history. Knepper, however, said the fans have already won. 'If the Miami Heat went to the conference finals, there just wouldn't be the outpouring of joy,' Knepper told CNN. 'They've had a really nice 25- to 30-year run. Obviously, if you're the Warriors, when you go to the conference finals, people aren't celebrating in the streets. 'Any team that has had a decent amount of success over the last couple of decades, the fanbase isn't going to react that way because it hasn't been this pent-up disappointment and bottled up enthusiasm just waiting to explode. And now it's like, 'OK, we can explode. We can let it out. We can express joy.'' Velázquez, who also attended the watch party outside of the Garden and found himself as one of the roughly 3,000 fans flooding Seventh Avenue after the Knicks beat the Celtics, agrees. 'I had people telling me on Facebook, 'You're acting like you won the championship.' Well you know what, we did,' Velázquez said with a laugh. 'As New York Knicks fans, we're not promised tomorrow. We haven't partied like this in 25 years.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
"I humbly submit I was the leader" - Mark Jackson says he was the alpha of the legendary Knicks and Pacers teams that pushed Jordan to the brink
Before the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers were gripped by the fierce Eastern Conference rivalry that defined the 1990s, Mark Jackson had already earned his stripes as one of New York's toughest floor generals. From the hardwood of Madison Square Garden to the high-stakes battles in Market Square Arena, he was orchestrating culture, order and confrontation. He was a team leader. A leader in all Those teams gave Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls trouble and were among the few squads that made the dynasty sweat. And for Jackson, his role wasn't just about assists or game tempo. It was about command. Advertisement "We certainly had leadership in Patrick Ewing and Reggie Miller," the 6'1'' guard said. "But I humbly submit I was the leader in form of verbally, vocally, holding guys accountable, giving instructions and things like that." The humility might be in the phrasing, but there's nothing modest about the truth he's laying down. Mark was the architect of chemistry on both squads, a man who understood the weight of the point guard position beyond stats. His leadership wasn't always spotlighted, but it was felt in the locker room, on the bench and during timeouts when the game tilted between chaos and control. "Action" entered the league in 1987 and won Rookie of the Year with the Knicks, averaging 13.6 points and 10.6 assists per game. By the time the Pacers made their deep playoff runs in the late '90s, he was the veteran glue binding egos and expectations. Advertisement In those brutal playoff series against Chicago, it wasn't just the Xs and Os but mental warfare. And few handled that terrain better than Jackson. The 1993 Knicks, for instance, pushed the Bulls to a 2-0 hole before Jordan clawed back with vengeance. And again, in 1998, Jackson's Pacers came within one game — Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals — of dethroning a Bulls team that would go on to have six titles to its name. Related: "I just got tired of hearing it and just thought it was best for me to move on" - Patrick Ewing admits he regrets leaving the Knicks out of spite Jackson's leadership In the midst of icons like Patrick Ewing, whose fierce low-post presence was New York's heartbeat, or Reggie Miller, whose sharpshooting and trash talk became a legend, Jackson's voice was the one calling out rotations, demanding defensive effort, managing emotions. His version of leadership was both steady and sharp-edged. Advertisement "So, there's different brands of leadership," the veteran guard added. He wasn't Ewing's enforcer or Miller's spotlight magnet. But in a locker room loaded with outsized personas, his leadership carved out a different lane. The kind that doesn't show up in box scores but shows up when a timeout breaks a 10-0 run, when a rookie doesn't know his rotation, or when a franchise is one loss away from implosion. "Action's" voice was persistent and piercing. With the Knicks, he played under Pat Riley, whose militaristic approach demanded structure and resilience. Jackson delivered both, often absorbing the intensity from Riley and translating it to his teammates in more digestible, day-to-day language. Later, with the Pacers under Larry Bird, the mission shifted, but the stakes remained. Indiana was trying to become the Eastern Conference's top franchise. Mark helped them believe they could. Advertisement By 1998, when the Pacers met the Bulls in what would be Chicago's final championship run of the Jordan era, the St. John's product was one of their oldest players on the floor. He averaged 8.5 assists and played all 82 games that season. That seven-game series remains one of the most dramatic of the decade — and Jackson's fingerprints were all over it. Related: Michael Jordan warned the NBA about pushing the "next MJ" narrative: "There's a danger to that, the credibility of the game can take a hit"
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
"I'm like, 'Oh my God, we really rock stars now'"- Patrick Ewing on when the Dream Team realized it was world-famous
In the summer of 1992, the world of basketball underwent a seismic shift. For the first time in Olympic history, professional NBA players were allowed to compete. The United States assembled a roster unlike anything the sport had ever seen. Twelve men — legends in their own right — came together in Barcelona, Spain, forming what would later be hailed as the greatest team ever assembled: the Dream Team. It was a cultural phenomenon. And the moment the plane landed on European soil, Patrick Ewing understood the magnitude of what they had become. Global stars Even with all the accolades, the titles and the fame that came with playing in the NBA, there was still something humbling about seeing the scope of their appeal on the global stage. Advertisement "We all knew we were great players, but you don't know how other people outside of this country think of you until you're actually living it," "Big Pat" said. "I remember the plane landing in Spain and you see thousands and thousands of people at the airport, lining, screaming. I'm like, 'Oh my God, we really rock stars now." The Olympic rule change in 1989 paved the way, with FIBA voting to allow NBA players to participate starting in the 1992 Games. That cleared the path for America to send its absolute best. The result was a constellation of talent: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Ewing himself — men who had dominated on home soil and now were unleashed on the international stage. That was hysteria. The kind reserved for royalty or the world's biggest rock bands. In the United States, they were household names. In Europe, they were mythical. That reception at the airport was only the beginning. Cameras tracked their every move. Fans lined hotel entrances. Even opposing players asked for autographs before games. The Dream Team hadn't played a single minute, yet the world had already declared its devotion. Advertisement Related: Isiah Thomas recalls his college recruitment: "My mom closed the briefcase and said, 'My son's not for sale" Dream Team dominance Once the games began, spectacle turned into annihilation. Team USA's average margin of victory was 43.8 points. No team came close. Angola lost by 68. Croatia lost by 33 in the final. Chuck Daly's men dismantled other teams and every game was a display of power and precision that set an entirely new standard for the game. Ewing, who had already been to the Olympics once as a collegiate player in 1984, knew this experience was something else entirely. These weren't college kids hoping to earn minutes. These were established giants carving their names deeper into history. Advertisement "It was a great experience and kicked a** and took names," Pat recalled. The Hall of Fame center's tone was half celebratory, half reflective. The journey had been about basketball. It had been about global perception. These games marked the moment the NBA transitioned from being a dominant American league to a global empire. In 1992, the NBA had just 23 international players from 18 countries. By the 2010s, that number had multiplied several times over. What the Dream Team did on the court was only half the story. What they did off court, how they inspired millions across continents, was the legacy that still echoes. The legendary U.S. squad appeared on Time Magazine covers. Their merchandise outsold every other Olympic item. Jordan's sneakers became international currency. And in places like Lithuania, Argentina and China, young boys picked up basketballs with a new level of seriousness, dreaming of someday wearing the same jersey as their childhood heroes. Related: Larry Bird admitted Dream Team's 1992 gold medal was too easy: "When you've been winning by 50 every night, it sort of takes something away"
