Celtics 114, Knicks 98: Brain Damage/Eclipse
The Knicks competed much of the night, fell late and hard, and it doesn’t mean a thing
The New York Knicks lost 114-98 in Boston last night.
Who cares?
The Knicks began this season in a 10-game Group of Death. Half of their contests have been against Boston, Milwaukee and Cleveland, the three teams expected to beast the east before James Harden forced Daryl Morey to cut the umbilical cord and Philadelphia turned into a lean mean fast-breaking machine. New York’s also faced New Orleans, like all of us a sight to behold when all our ducks are in a row, though how often is that? At 2-4, the Knicks hosted the Clippers before their ship started sinking post-Harden, then the San Antonio Wembys, a team that’s beaten Phoenix twice already in Phoenix. There was also Charlotte. Every seven dwarves has their Dopey.
RJ Barrett, the only Knick to rival Mitchell Robinson for biggest “Leap Year Month,” missed three of the opening dectet, including last night. Julius Randle looked more like Zirconius the first couple of weeks while he got his legs underneath him. Jalen Brunson’s shot took a bit to get back on track. Quentin Grimes is yet to have that dare-to-be-great game. Still. The Knicks have won three of their last four.
The bench has been New York’s saving grace many a night. Immanuel Quickley plays like a man who knows someone is going to happily offer him nine figures in nine months. Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo are a couple of chaos warlocks. Isaiah Hartenstein continues to impress. One can look at today’s standings and see the Knicks tied for last in the division and the play-in spots. Look at the teams they’re tied with. Look at their rosters. Look at the Knicks’. Who would you bet comes out ahead? You already know. We not only know this team is better; we’re confident we’re gonna see it. Sooner than later.
That’s the biggest takeaway from last night, far bigger than “Shorthanded team loses road game & 2nd end of back-to-back at arguably the league’s best team.” On Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, the final track flows from “Brain Damage” right into “Eclipse,” where Roger Waters sings, “There’s someone in my head/but it’s not me.”
That’s how being a Knicks fan today, November 14, 2023 feels. In a good way. Feeling anxious? Expecting the sky to come crashing down? Fretting about being 0-2 against the putative division winners? All the old stressors? Don’t waste your time doing somebody else’s. Welcome to the new New York Knicks. Welcome to the new you.
Old you was deprived of faith, for good reason. It’s not easy to shake a poverty mindset. When you’re poor, the money you have on you may be the only money you see for a while; it makes sense sometimes to spend it all on one thing when you still have bills that are due. Because if you don’t have enough to pay the bills anyway, why hang on to what’s clearly not enough? What’s the point in making a dent in a wall you know can’t be broken?
But these Knicks are no poverty franchise. Sweat equity and years of evidence showcase a club with a plan in place, a long-term vision as well as a demonstrated history of developing its young players. They just opened with as tough a first few weeks as anyone in the league, and if not for fourth quarter Jayson Tatum channeling Reggie Miller’s fourth quarter from Game 5 29 years ago, the Knicks may very well have come out of this stretch with a winning record. With fewer Celtics and Cavaliers and more Hornets and Wizards on the horizon, this could be the rare Tom Thibodeau Knick team that opens the year strong. Last time they did they were 5-1 six games into the 2021-22 season. They went 20-37 the rest of the way.
This team doesn’t know what 20-37 looks like. They’re more likely to go 37-20. We are, here on 11/14/23, in a place I’d argue we haven’t been in since 12/8/02. That day the Knicks were 11-9. The next day Jeff Van Gundy resigned. There was shock, but still the sense that the show must go on. These were the Knicks, a brand name you could trust. They faced the Celtics in their next game, at Madison Square Garden. Latrell Sprewell scored 49. Marcus Camby had 21 rebounds. Allan Houston poured in 24. The Knicks could have clinched the win near the end of regulation, but Sprewell missed a free throw that would’ve put them up four and him within reach of 50. He missed, Paul Pierce hit a 3 to force overtime, and the Knicks lost. Lost for a while after that night. After 10 straight years reaching the second round, four conference finals and two NBA Finals, they lost their aura, too.
None of the current Knicks have reached the Finals, won 50 games, or done most of what the Silver Age squads did. But today’s Knicks have earned our trust, our patience and our faith. There is at least an aura of respectability. We don’t have to live and die with every result, even late mudslides against the hated Celtics. Our broke days are behind us. Next game is tomorrow at Atlanta. If any game’s a palate cleanser, that’s the one.
