It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life as the Knicks take down the Nets

Some bullies bully because they were taught to. Sometimes bullying’s their ticket to a better life.

Some bully without really seeming to care. It’s what they’ve done; it’s what they do

The one thing universal to bullies: they bully because they want something, or need something, that bullying provides.

For years the New York Knicks have been pushed around by the outerboro ouroboros in Brooklyn. The Nets never lost to the Knicks while Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were under contract; even when that duo missed the game, the Knicks came up short. Take a good look at the sky. It’s bright out where I live, sunny and clear as day. So it goes for the Knickerbockers, who celebrated the absences of Pinky and the Brain with a 124-106 victory over the Nets at Madison Square Garden, their fourth straight win at home. With the win New York is just two games back of Brooklyn for the fifth seed.

The Nets’ obsession with the Knicks rubs me the wrong way. Pro’ly ‘cuz the Knicks don’t seem to have earned it. A franchise that’s won two titles in 76 years and only reached two in the last 50 is a strange target for a stalker. The Lakers get stalkers. The Celtics get stalkers. They’re big stars. The Knicks are Sally Field, their best days in the past. Who stalks Sally Field?     

Someone aimless and un-centered, that’s who. While the Knicks are so solid and consistent a presence they pre-date the NBA, the Nets changed leagues (ABA to NBA), changed names (from the Americans to the Nets) and switched states. Twice. An army brat without family or country, long have they lorded their power over the blue and orange. No longer.

Which isn’t to say last night went as smoothly as the scoreline suggests. It was tied at 80 with a little over two minutes left in the third. Knick-killer Spencer Dinwiddie was his usual irritatingly effective self. But for the first time in a long time, the best player on either team was a Knick. So was the second-best. And on this night, the newest Knick ascended to a plane that must have left his old team in the Pacific Northwest kicking themselves.

Jalen Brunson spent 36 minutes in the zone, dropping 40 points while making 75% of his twos and 67% of his threes, rates that soften the blow of his continued free throw struggles (4 of 8). Julius Randle had the quietest 18/10/4 you’ll ever see from him, but those numbers don’t reflect anything negative; Randle let the game unfold naturally, which on this night meant letting Brunson cook and letting Josh Hart continue his chase to become the quickest cult-hero around here since Kristaps Porziņģis. Hart is the Magneto of basketball, seemingly possessed of the ability to control rebounds and loose balls and attract them to his person. He’s been a breath of fresh air pushing the pace, a defensive essential and has in only two games in New York made 15% of his 3-pointers for the entire season. 

A 44-point tsuanmi over the last 14 minutes buried the Nets and hopefully the recent history between the teams. Sometimes you reach your limit, you’ve had enough and you fight back.

Sometimes you just need some time to find yourself.

And sometimes you win the whole thing by winning a single moment. Buster Douglas was knocked down in the eighth round by Mike Tyson. He could have stayed down; he would have been praised for taking Iron Mike farther than most. As he rose from the canvas, Douglas wasn’t in a position to win the fight. All he could do in that moment was stand up. That’s it. That’s what it took to win that moment, which led to hundreds of other moments that led to him knocking Tyson out. The Knicks didn’t win a championship last night. They got hit and punched back. This time, they were the heavy. This time, they came out on top.