The full journey back to this stage is complete.
Last year’s moment on this stage was immediately cemented in the worst parts of Knicks lore.
Once this season began, though, it more or less moved to the back of players’ and fans’ minds.
But now, it’s impossible not to think back to the crushing collapse in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals last year to the Pacers.
Here the Knicks are, getting set for Game 1 of this year’s conference finals — against the Cavaliers on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden — with a chance to right that wrong.
Blowing a 17-point fourth-quarter lead, allowing the Pacers to reel off 23 points in the final 3:14 of regulation, the infamous Tyrese Haliburton jumper to tie the game in the final seconds of regulation and squandering another lead in overtime all taught these Knicks a valuable lesson.
One that is no longer on the back burner.
It is now front of mind.
“I think experience always is able to teach you a lot of lessons [for] this time around,” Jalen Brunson said after practice Monday. “Obviously we know what we have to do. It’s obviously not gonna be easy at all. But I think to be able to close games and close quarters is gonna be really important for us. Obviously, last year with Game 1, we didn’t do that. And Game 2, obviously losing that as well, it changed a lot. So for us, we’ve just gotta be prepared and understand what we have to do for the entire 48 minutes and just be locked in and win or lose, just have short-term memory.”
That Game 1 meltdown completely set the tone for the rest of the series.
After the Knicks entered the series as favorites, the mood around the two teams immediately changed.
It seemed the Knicks’ confidence did, too.
It took until Game 3 before they even recovered, and they already trailed 2-0 in the series by that point.
That Game 1 became the defining memory of their entire season.
“In the playoffs you never want to give away games that you should win,” Josh Hart said Monday. “You can never relax, especially the style that the NBA is played now. You see 10-, 15-, 20-point leads dwindle in four, five minutes. So it’s just that mentality of it’s never over. Play until there are zeroes on the clock. You can’t give games away.”
It became lost as the Knicks steamrolled their way to seven straight playoff wins, but it’s something that they struggled with again early in this postseason.
After leading by 18 points late in Game 1 of the first round against the Hawks, they let Atlanta score 11 straight points to make it interesting.
Then in Game 2, they blew a 12-point fourth-quarter lead and lost.
Like the choke against the Pacers, it spilled into the next game as the Knicks dropped Game 3 and all of a sudden trailed in the series.
Since then, the Knicks have shown no signs of that trait.
They’ve largely bludgeoned their opponents and haven’t let up until the other teams wave their white flag.
Perhaps it served as a reminder of that all-important lesson.
“I think it happened this year as well when we played Atlanta,” Brunson said. “We let our foot off the gas, even in Game 1 [when] we won. But also Game 2, obviously we lost. It’s something that we need to continue to get better at and I think we have, but we can’t be satisfied.”
The Knicks, like last year, are again favorites to reach the Finals.
That dynamic changed in a hurry last year, however.
Now comes another — and vital — chance to get out on the front foot and impose themselves like favorites are supposed to.
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“You always wanna hit first, second, third and obviously last,” coach Mike Brown — who was not involved in last year’s team — said Monday. “So, trying to do that is gonna be big. We’ve talked about it before with the starts of our games and our guys, to their credit, have done a better job in the playoffs than what we did toward the end of the regular season.”
This stage — Game 1 of the conference finals — carries the worst of memories for Knicks fans.
Finally, it’s time to create new ones.
“I’ve thought about it, but like every journey, every year is different,” Brunson said. “You’ve got to kind of restart and reset. Yes, you learn from it. You’re very disappointed in the result. But you move forward.”
A chance to move forward further than they’ve ever been this century.
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