The Knicks are giving their fans one of the greatest rides of their lives.
But even in an unforgettable season, it is difficult to remember everything that’s happened over more than seven months of play.
These are some of the top moments from the Knicks’ best season this century:
The decision to fire Tom Thibodeau — fresh off the Knicks’ first conference finals appearance in 25 years — was controversial. More questions arose when the Knicks whiffed on multiple targets under contract (Jason Kidd, Ime Udoka, Chris Finch, Billy Donovan, Quin Snyder). Then came the announcement of the replacement, Mike Brown, who had won four rings as an assistant, but had been fired four times as a head coach. If you were underwhelmed, you weren’t alone.
In a season-opening matchup billed as a potential conference finals preview, the Knicks used a 14-0 fourth-quarter run to power past the Cavaliers for a 119-111 win at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 22. “We won the game and we had some good moments, but we don’t feel like we’re anywhere near what we’re capable of,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “That’s what makes it exciting. Everybody has expectations.”
Six months before “The Bounce,” fans at the Garden were chanting “Lan-dry Sha-met,” as the veteran came off the bench to score 30 of his career-high 36 points in the second half of a 140-132 NBA Cup win over the Heat on Nov. 14. With Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby sidelined by injuries, Towns scored 39 points, Jordan Clarkson added 24 and Josh Hart recorded a triple-double.
Brunson was named the NBA Cup MVP, but the 124-113 title game victory over the Spurs in Las Vegas on Dec. 16 wouldn’t have been possible without a unique late-game lineup, featuring Clarkson (15 points), Tyler Kolek (14 points, five rebounds, five assists) and Mitchell Robinson (15 rebounds). “Don’t it look good when it says Knicks champions on the shirt?” Towns said.
Brown had challenged his team to “Lock in and do your f—ing job.” Brunson asked his teammates to “care” more. The Knicks had lost four straight — including double-digit defeats to Sacramento and Dallas — and nine of their previous 11 games before embarrassing Brooklyn in a 120-66 blowout at the Garden on Jan. 21. This marked the largest margin of victory in franchise history and the beginning of an eight-game winning streak.
The Knicks looked like contenders again in a potential NBA Finals preview, defeating the Nuggets 134-127 in double overtime at the Garden on Feb. 4 to earn their eighth straight win. While three-time MVP Nikola Jokic struggled with his shot down the stretch, Brunson took over late, finishing with 42 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
The New York City native’s trade from New Orleans put the final touch on a team that’s ceiling was easier to see during his debut in the Knicks’ 111-89 win in Boston on Super Bowl Sunday. Alvarado was as advertised, a sub-6-foot nuisance who brought instant energy off the bench, frustrating Jaylen Brown, and finishing with 12 points, two steals and six deflections in 25 minutes.
The Knicks returned from the All-Star break and suffered their third blowout loss to the Pistons of the season. Two days later at the Garden, they fought back from an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Kevin Durant and the Rockets 108-106 as Brunson — who had two points at halftime — went 4-for-4 in the fourth quarter, hitting the game-tying and go-ahead jumpers.
The Knicks began the final week of the regular season with a much-needed reminder of their toughness on the road. Following five straight losses against teams with a winning record, the Knicks rode another clutch Brunson performance to a 108-105 win in Atlanta — which had won 18 of its previous 20 games and hadn’t lost at home in two months — after CJ McCollum’s game-tying heave from half court was ruled to have been released after the buzzer.
In Jayson Tatum’s much-anticipated return to the arena where he suffered a torn Achilles, Hart stole the show, making the Celtics pay for repeatedly leaving him open. Hart scored 15 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Knicks to a 112-106 win over the Eastern Conference favorites, just over a week before the playoffs began.
After Brunson dribbled into a double-team and threw away the final possession of Game 3, the Knicks were on the verge of crisis, having suffered their second straight one-point loss. Then, Brown began running the offense through Towns, and everything began to click as the Knicks won the final three games of the series by 96 points, including a historic 51-point blowout in the Game 6 clincher in Atlanta.
Instead of a rematch with the Celtics, the Knicks got another swing at Joel Embiid. A 39-point win in Game 1 set the tone for their first playoff sweep in 26 years. Despite losing Anunoby to a hamstring injury in Game 2, the Knicks kept dominating both ends of the floor and enjoyed their fans’ surreal road invasion in Philadelphia, capping the series by tying an NBA postseason record with 25 3-pointers in a Game 4 blowout.
Playing for the first time in nine days, the Knicks finally cooled off in Game 1 of the conference finals and fell behind by 22 points with less than eight minutes left before Brunson led the greatest postseason comeback in franchise history. Hart played the hero in Game 2 and the Knicks closed it out with a 37-point win in Cleveland, celebrating the team’s first conference championship in 27 years.
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