Ok folks, I managed to go through the first week of January without dedicating a single post to my Knicks. Yes, I've mentioned them numerous times, but haven't really talked about any of the games I've been at or what I think of the season so far.
I'll start by talking about the games I've been at so far this season. I've seen the Wizards, Warriors, Celtics, Heat, Thunder, and Spurs, the last four of which were AMAZING games to be at. The atmosphere at the Garden is unlike anything I've been seen in going the past four seasons. Everything I read has said MSG has been at near-playoff levels in terms of buzz and crowd noise and believe me I've been apart of that!
Obviously, the Heat game was by far the biggest party atmosphere game, with Drake taking the best celebrity row seat for that one. The first half of that game was just amazing with both teams shooting the lights out. Unfortunately, the Heat turned up the defense in the third quarter, held us to 17 points and the fourth quarter was just a showcase for LeBron to get his triple double.
By far the two best games from start to finish have been the Celtics and Spurs games. Both of them had amazing energy in the building and both games were shootouts. The C's and Knicks went punch for punch for the entire game right down to the buzzer when Amare's potential game winner was waved off. It was the type of game that you weren't even mad or disappointed about the outcome. You could tell you had just witnessed something incredible, the type of game that's the reason you pay so much to go to games. When Amare's three went in just after the buzzer the entire crowd stood and cheered at the exact same time. It instantly reminded me of this. Of course the stakes were MUCH bigger back then, but look at the replays that clip shows and watch how all the fans react at the exact same moment... that's how it was on Amare's shot.
The Spurs game was exactly like the Celtics game in terms of pace and scoring. The Knicks led 71-68 at halftime! Chandler had 31 points, Amare and Felton both had 28 apiece. But again, both teams went punch for punch the entire game with leads not getting to more than 6-7 points for New York. Then with under four minutes to go in the game they stretched it out to 10, then 11 on a series of amazing plays by Felton and Stoudemire. With just over 3 minutes left in the game the Spurs pulled their starters and the celebration was on. The rest of the game was spent standing and cheering as the Knicks handed the Spurs just their fifth loss of the season.
There's no more talk of 'if' this team can make the playoffs. It's a given that barring catastrophe, the worst the Knicks will finish is 6th in the weak Eastern Conference. The question now is if they can add some more impressive wins over the league upper echelon and truly contend in the Eastern playoffs this season. Yes, the Heat and Celtics seem to be a collision course in the East Finals, but an opening series win over the Magic or Bulls doesn't seem so far off, and certainly is a far cry from the expectations set at the beginning of the season. While the Knicks have had one of the easiest schedules in the league so far, they do have two signature wins over the Bulls, plus wins over the Thunder and Spurs. They played the Celtics down the last second and other than the awful third quarter against the Heat were very much in that game.
January will continue to test the Knicks as they hit the road for a four game Western Conference road trip that started tonight with Amare's return to Phoenix (I'm watching on DVR while typing this). After tonight they have games at the Lakers, Blazers and Jazz before coming home for the Kings and a return game with the Suns. Then they hit the road again for the Rockets, Spurs and Thunder. The end of the month softens a bit but is highlighted by LeBron's second and last trip to the Garden this season on January 27th.
If they can get through the road trips with a 4-3 or 3-4 record, then take care of very winnable home games against the Kings, Suns, and Wizards, they should be in great position heading to the last few months of the season. Plus who knows... maybe they'll add that Carmelo guy sometime between now and then too!
LET'S GO KNICKS!
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