For Knicks fans, the 2018-19 campaign has been a lost cause. Not that they aren’t used to swoons. Since the turn of the millennium, they have seen the blue and orange make the playoffs just four times, and not in the last half decade. That said, they harbored more hope than usual heading into the season, with the hiring of head coach David Fizdale underscoring the dispensation’s patient outlook and support for a youth movement. And then came all the dubious records being set, with downturn after downturn casting shadows of doubt over even the most optimistic of quarters. For perennial naysayers, the unexpected trade of erstwhile franchise cornerstone Kristaps Porzingis was proof that things were the same old, same old.
From within, however, there was no indication of the status quo being perpetuated. Sure, the Knicks were piling up the Ls, and, perhaps, at a faster rate than they were hitherto accustomed to. Nonetheless, their disposition was that of a group that knew they were progressing. For all their setbacks, they were growing, and, most importantly, together. Regardless of the outcomes, they were doing their best, and playing for themselves and with each other. Which, in a nutshell, was why they managed to stay loose even as the prospect of tying an ignominious mark for home losses hung over them yesterday.
Indeed, the Knicks looked nothing like the patsies their place in the standings indicated them to be. They exuded confidence, and their body language was that of winners. And they were invested in the outcome of the match, with their bench animated and involved in the proceedings from the get-go. Perhaps facing the Spurs, models at playing the right way all the way, buoyed them. In any case, they were determined to be greater than the sum of their parts. And, if nothing else, the 18,019-strong crowd on hand at the Garden appreciated their effort.
Considering how the Knicks competed, the hoops gods rightly credited them with victory. And it wasn’t simply that they won; it was how they won. No wonder most spectators stayed until the final buzzer. And no wonder the MSG Network broadcast, starring the inimitable duo of Mike Breen and Clyde Frazier, proved more entertaining than usual; though ever the professionals and rightly averse to homerism, they found plenty of reasons to praise the performances of the hosts.
Yesterday will continue to be more the exception than the rule for the Knicks through the remainder of their schedule, to be sure. There’s still much for their stalwarts to learn. If there’s anything the development showed, however, it’s that the likes of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving can look forward to far more than merely the megabuck contracts that await in the media capital of the world. They may lack talent and experience, but they already have purpose and resolve. The future is bright.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
