Before Sunday, the New York Knicks had not won a playoff game since 2001. Down 3-0 in the first round of the 2012 playoffs to the heavily favored Miami Heat, the Knicks got their first playoff win in over a decade to bring the series to 3-1. They did this in thrilling fashion in front of a sold out crowd at Madison Square Garden. Following the game, confetti rained down on the crowd and both teams as if the Knicks just won the NBA Finals. This is one of the many reasons the Knicks are where they are as a franchise.
Imagine if the Dallas Mavericks had won Game 4 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday instead of losing and completing the sweep and confetti had rained down. That is probably something you can not imagine because a team with a championship mentality does not believe in moral victories. They do not consider it a victory just to avoid the sweep. Can you imagine the Los Angeles Lakers or the Boston Celtics doing that either? Not at all. If I had expected this from any team in New York, I expected it from the New York Mets first. But absolutely not the Knicks.
What kind of message are they sending their fan base with this kind of act? This pretty much tells everyone that they do not expect to compete and are happy with one small victory. To be satisfied with one victory is a defeatist mentality. The best organizations in sports are never satisfied and always want to do better. If the New York Knicks ever want to return to playing big boy basketball like they did in the days of Ewing and Oakley or the days of Willis Reed, they can not celebrate these types of wins. Celebrations like these over such a small win causes emotional let downs in the following game(s) and will only further contribute to their inevitable demise.
In Game 5 look for the Heat to run all over the Knicks because I am pretty sure LeBron James and company did not like New York’s celebration at their expense. Not only will Miami have a bone to pick, but the Knicks will probably come out flat in Miami and get into a big hole early in the game. In the future, if the Knicks continue to be playoff contenders, they have to steer clear of acts like these as an organization. They have to act like they have been there before because, well, they have been.
– Brian Cox
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