Knicks 121, Knicks 106: No, that’s not a typo
One of history’s great In-Season Tournament teams, the Knicks added to that legacy with last night’s win
Karl-Anthony Towns was posting up Orlando’s Mo Wagner in the second quarter of last night’s 121-106 Knick win when the Magic center, perhaps inspired by playing on the same court as the ‘90s Knicks, played defense via a biceps/shoulder shiver. KAT was not amused.
Wagner has been one of my favorite non-Knicks for years. Got ‘90s Knicks spirit, a to-the-ends-of-the-earth passion for everything he does: rebounding, screening, fouling. Not an All-Star, not a Finals MVP-type. Just a dude whose primary objective – beyond winning basketball games or making a living; I’m talking “What gets you up every morning and keeps you from driving into a tree?” stuff – is to empty himself fully in his devoted, loving practice of his craft while ensuring his opponent feels that emptying as intensely as is legally allowed before it becomes a foul, and often beyond.
Last night the Knicks and Magic reached for the last doll on the shelf: homecourt in the knockout round of the Adam Silver Cup. As the good guys rained blows upon the less good, that moment between Towns and Wagner stood out as emblematic of the difference between the two teams, perhaps the difference between this Knick team and any I’ve seen in 35 years. Because these Magic are very much made in the image of the ‘90s Knicks, while these Knicks are making a case as the most dominant Knick team in 30, maybe 50 years. Dominant isn’t the same as consistent, but it is a step up from hard-fought second-round losses signifying a good year.
Towns could have responded to Wagner’s overture with brute force – there aren’t many humans bigger than Mo, but KAT’s one of them. A ‘90s Knick would be all “You wanna get nuts? Come on! Let’s get nuts!” Because those teams were essentially Patrick Ewing and four Mo Wagners. Not All-Stars or All-NBA types. Players who achieved the absolute down-to-the-last-drop most they possibly could have, and in some cases even more than that, but whose passion, great as it was, couldn’t resist the incessance of probability. John Starks was listed at 6-foot-5. He was 6-foot-3. Michael Jordan was 6-foot-6. Reggie Miller was 6-foot-7. You do what you can, as long as you can, but you’ll never do what you can’t. Instead, Towns literally went high when they went low, rising above for the fadeaway two.
The Magic are the kind of team most fan bases would be madly in love with. After 10 losing seasons in 11 years and 13 without winning a playoff series, last year’s young team winning 47 games and pushing Cleveland to seven games was a pleasant surprise. They’re even better this season, entering last night winners of 12 of 13 and one of the league’s best defensive squads. 2024 is in many ways not 1994, one being the league’s soul having turned the dial all the way from pro-defense to pro-offense. So while the Magic are one of the league’s slower and lower-scoring teams, they’re still way faster and score way more than the Silver Age Knicks did. Orlando has two guys who can score (one healthy), which feels like the 2024 exchange rate for having one who could in 1994.
The Knicks completely blew the Magic out of the water, in a game against one of the league’s East’s better sides. This wasn’t the Wizards, or The Stand version of the Pelicans with like four surviving players or the Suns sans KD and Bradley Beal. The Magic were without Paolo Banchero, but it’s not like the Knicks came back to win, or were nursing an 8-10 lead most of the night. New York were up 22 before halftime and as many as 37 after. A year ago, a more balanced and rugged Knick team felt better than the Magic in a big brother/little brother way. Last night looked like the Knicks were their daddy, and not in the good way. Unless you’re a Knick fan, which if you’re reading this you pro’ly are. So it was a different but still good way of someone being your daddy.
Late in the blowout, Wagner hustled for a loose ball careening that ended up in Mike Breen’s hands. Wagner teased Breen about his readiness to dive out of Wagner’s way, with both laughing. It’s a friendlier league now than it used to be, at least in its presentation. It does seem like the culture today can see a player on a team down 30 smile and not get all pitchfork-and-torchy. It’s a different world now, though the Magic are an homage to one of the best bits from the old: a hard-nosed group that keeps coming at you, doesn’t have nearly enough to get over the top but never stops pushing, a Hadean destiny. There are worse fates.
The new Knicks seem the platonic version having a puncher’s chance – if they’re not the best team by year’s end, they’ll undoubtedly be one of its most powerful. Power isn’t the same as consistent, but . . . well, there are worse fates.
The old Knicks grappled with teams until they got them in a chokehold and then suffocated them. It was brutal. Intimate. Like being hit in your no-no square by a baseball bat. The new Knicks are more like anesthetic: it’s only a matter of time before the other team’s out. Next up is Charlotte, tomorrow. Prep a bed.
