I watched the first part of the Yankee game on the count of I was too chicken to watch the Knicks. For me, as a casual Knicks fan, and one with a delicate constitution, they are more aggravating than enjoyable. So pronounced first-half leads–hell, 20-point 4th quarter leads–are just fool’s gold, dirty tricks.
But as the night wore on, and A.J. Griffin out-dueled C.C. Sabathia (both pitched well, in spite of a tiny strike zone), I found myself watching more of the Knicks and my emotion blurred out any memory of what was going on in the Bronx. (The A’s won, 2-0.)
The Knicks did almost blow a 20-point 4th quarter lead, of course, until Melo hit a huge three-pointer (and his first since Christ was a cowboy), and then Paul Pierce missed a shot before J.R. Smith scored and was fouled leading to another three-point play. Both possessions for the Knicks punctured the optimism and good cheer of the Boston crowd and that in and of itself was a pleasure to witness.
And so, the Knicks won a playoff round for the first time since 2000. Not only that, but they set the stage for another throwback match-up as they’ll face the Indiana Pacers–a bruising group–in the second round.
As Carlito once said, “Here comes the pain.”
Yeah, they actually had a 26 point lead in the fourth. And in about three minutes they had a 5 point lead, and then it was 4... and the Celtics ran out of gas.
And yet, I was strangely confident throughout. It makes no sense.
you said it about these Knicks, Alex, they're exhausting to behold.
I got back from coaching soccer practice, and turned on the game at the end of the third quarter - but I feel like I watched three Knicks games last night while being water boarded.
I was flipping to the Yanks game just to keep my arteries from bursting.
Watched the Yankees, until it became clear that the game was over after the first pitch, then channel surfing.
My greatest beef with basketball is how quickly such large leads can evaporate. Oh, well. I didn't watch the Yankee game but I caught a single highlight on the nightly news. Some dude all decked out in bright yellow A's gear had CC's first pitch sail right over his head as he was jumping up and down waving his arms. That was one happy dude.
[4] It wasn't me, I swear! Watching A's games this year can be as aggravating as watching Knicks games at times. I wouldn't get too happy about a 1-0 lead.
I'm loving the newly found again relevancy of the Knicks this year. I didn't sweat this series too badly, ESP after they handled the Celts so ably in the first couple games.
Now we get another series that they "should" win, and the nerves will kick in early if they don't go up 2-0, but I'm glad Reggie Miller is retired at least.
If they get to the Heat and manage to steal one of the first games in Miami, I will be back in full-on 1999 and 1994 style pacing around the living room.