PG: Our Guys Stepped Up Down the Stretch

[SelbyCobra]

[rajajackal]

just got home from philly. they hated our asses out there. my one brother got kicked out the bar afterparty just off having his starks jersey on. salty ass frustrated ass city. i could tell you a handful of stories, but my ass is tired. great win. finished it like we started it - neck and neck with a hell of a rival. glad to put them behind us. diamonds cut diamonds, etc. i feel sorry for who gotta compete with us after this. i'll make the next GT closer to the date of game 1...

[SelbyCobra]

Just putting it out there...

Expedia has nonstop (2 hour) flights from either JFK or Newark to Indianapolis on Friday, returning on Saturday, for between $227 and $259.

Tickets to get in the building for Game 3 start at $120.

You could do the whole thing for less than the current price to get in the building for Game 1 at MSG ($514).

[ScienceOfLosing]

Last years playoffs ended with Hart open against Miami but Jalen passing him up (but understandably.)
NOT this year.

Read on Twitter

[Chanel Bomber]

I missed most of the games sadly, but I'm glad to see the team power through fierce adversity, and happy for you guys who experienced the stress of the series. It sounds ridiculous because it is, but we've been through a lot as basketball fans.

I love everything Hart and Mitch are about. Players make mistakes, and miss free throws. Even Dirk missed one in the Finals. They're just bound to happen. But I can never criticize players who give this much to the team for making mistakes. These two players are special.

One thing that stands out to me watching the highlights is OG's size, even on offense. It's such a difference-maker. It's really apparent when he attacks closeouts or gets to the basket - there's an comforting sense that a bucket is likely. What an incredible addition, it reminds me of reading on Dave DeBusschere's joining the team 50 years ago.

That dunk was nasty.

Meanwhile Brunson keeps shattering any expectation or limitation put on him. The late bloomer of all late bloomers, carving his legend on the Knicks' epic.

Knicks chose the more arduous path by not tanking and they made it out alive, albeit with one and a half casualty. Hats off to them for their self-belief, and for the outcome.

[Chanel Bomber]

All those purchased tickets gone like tears in the rain

[TheDavinciCHODE]

Guys and girls.

I am legit on the verge of tears. I can't remember being this happy about sports.

Maybe the 1996 Yankees winning the world series after going down 2-0 and I was 8 years old.

This team never quits. They had every right to quit this game after blowing the last one. After blowing a 20+ point lead. After going down 7 or 8 or w/e late in the game. After missing all the free throws.

And they didn't.

They were without their 2nd best player. Without Bogey too. This team just keeps on fighting and fighting and fighting.

I've never felt so elated and relieved. I don't care if we don't win a game this next series. I honestly don't. This was the best playoff series I've ever watched.

And Philly sucks.

[knicks94]

I was super ecstatic after this win, but now I feel disgruntled because Mike Francesa is once again making excuses for the Sixers losing this series. He mentions how Embiid was playing tired and injured whenever the Sixers lost in the series, but whenever the Sixers won in the series the injuries were a non factor. What must the Knicks do to win this guy over?

[oldshoolballer]

Kenny and Shaq basically eating crow right now

The Knicks are making these guys look like complete idiots.

[3toheadmelo]

Only caught the last couple mins of the game ima need to rewatch it this weekend

you good?

Yeah I was moving in my new place

[HopelessKnick]

Being a Knicks fan the past 30 years hasn't been easy. We all hope for the best, but deep down we question the ability of the team to come through when it matters most based upon what we've seen over and over since May of 1993. From Starks going ice cold in the '94 Finals, to getting blown out of the water in the '99 Finals, to years of on-court ineptitude, to Roy Hibbert becoming omnipotent for a bunch of hours, to Amare fighting a fire extinguisher, it always seems to not work out in a way that has felt predictable - an impending doom. Hell, even in terms of matters completely out of our hands the impending doom existed. Wanting Steph, Steph wanting us, and he goes just before our pick. Missing out on #1 overall picks. Not moving up in the lottery a single time for four straight decades. The Knicks aren't cursed, but there certainly have not gotten any big breaks, and they have no real cinderella stories over the years. We're either decent and get sent packing on-time or early, or we suck but receive no luck in getting better, and then suck worse.

But this team has thrown decades of misery out the window. They lost their all-NBA offensive hub, and not only held on in the standings, but actually ascended to the 2nd seed. In the playoffs they endured horrific performances in the first two games, and yet won BOTH of them due to perseverance and plain old grit. Then they went on the road and lost by double digits, and it got a bunch of us older heads feeling THOSE vibes - the continual ones from the last 30 years. The ones that have never failed to show up. But what does this team do? They WIN game 4.

Then comes the crusher. A horrific Game 5 loss. The series could have been over, but now it's extended, and in the most demoralizing, gruesome, sleep-depriving fashion possible. An historic loss, one that has excellent potential to join the pantheon of awful Knicks moments from the last 30 years. But what does this team do? They not only win the series, but they win the very next game, in extremely tight fashion, and do so on the f*cking road. They had two bites at the apple after the devastation of Game 5, and they collectively said, f*ck it, we only need one, doesn't matter if it's in the lions den.

All Knicks fans are euphoric right now, but I cannot put into words how satisfying this win is for an old head who has been conditioned by the poor play, bad luck, and overall ineptitude of this franchise's last 30 years. The watching the game through your fingers, waiting for the chair to get pulled out from under you isht. This team isn't the best team in the league, but for once it's a Knicks team that is actually generating confidence in me, even in the darkest situations. I've been stunned by the way they have shown up throughout this season, and they have just kept doing it more and more as the stakes have gotten higher and higher.

They are a roster that has been defying organizational history and negative energy AGGRESSIVELY. Not stumbling into big wins or lucky chances, but MAKING them happen, even when they are running a talent deficit. It is so un-Knicks like, and it's giving me all kinds of joy. I'm under no delusions that this team is "going all the way" or anything, hell they could get swept next round, but I do know that no matter what happens they're competing all the way through, and assuming the lineup remains intact good things can actually be expected to happen for once.

Crazy.

Great one!

[knicksNOTslick]

Can't believe Julius Randle managed to match Tobias Harris point for point in this game. Beast.

[Ray Williams]

Two favorite plays of this game were OG’s dunk and Kelly WhoTheFkIsHeBre fouled Brunson with his chin

[Galvationknicks]

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What a difference a year makes Jalen makes the pass this time

[Galvationknicks]

Two favorite plays of this game were OG’s dunk and Kelly WhoTheFkIsHeBre fouled Brunson with his chin

Nurse yells at the ref. What you want me to call a foul on the shooter who got hit by being too close? Next time don't try to ride a bull

[MrDollarBills]

The incoming rest days will be a godsend for this team. Thibs is gonna have to open up the rotation in the next round, Precious will be needed versus Turner.

[MrDollarBills]

I was super ecstatic after this win, but now I feel disgruntled because Mike Francesa is once again making excuses for the Sixers losing this series. He mentions how Embiid was playing tired and injured whenever the Sixers lost in the series, but whenever the Sixers won in the series the injuries were a non factor. What must the Knicks do to win this guy over?

Mike is old and miserable.

[Ma10]

OG played some weird offense most of the time but that sure was a highlight. If he would just made his free throw after that!

[MrDollarBills]

YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!

Bart Scott said that Joel looks like he stinks after Fat Joe revealed that Embiid's hand smelled terrible after he dapped him up before game 5 and I can't get that out of my head. Nasty

[MrDollarBills]

OG played some weird offense most of the time but that sure was a highlight. If he would just made his free throw after that!

Every time OG attacks off the dribble it's an adventure but he made some incredible plays last night. The guy will be worth every cent of his next contract