Have the Knicks found a better answer to an age-old question?

To better understand the significance of the New York Knicks’ 122-109 Sunday smackdown of the Milwaukee Bucks, we look to the past — the recent and the not-so-much.

Yesterday the Houston Rockets lost in overtime to Dallas despite leading 24-5 lead in the first quarter, being up as many as 22, in front the first 45 minutes and all but 48 seconds of the first 48 minutes. The Cleveland Cavaliers led the L.A. Clippers by 26 in the third quarter yet still lost; that happens when you follow a 40-point first quarter and a 40-point second quarter with a 38-point second half. Indiana was up 22 in the first half over Miami before surrendering 69 in the second and barely hanging on for the win. Yesterday the Knicks were down 11 at the half. They blitzed the Bucks 72-48 the rest of the way. Comebacks happen, especially in Adam Silver’s NBA. But the Knicks’ effort stands out among the bunch. 

The Bucks are not the Rockets, a young team whose spirited late-season run just ran out of gas. They weren’t missing their best player, like Cleveland was with Donovan Mitchell. The Buck defense exists; that alone puts it in a class above whatever the Pacers are doing without the ball. The Bucks – somehow – remain the presumptive favorite to finish second in the East and one of only three teams in the East who’d force Boston to deal with an MVP-level threat. For two of the three, that may not be enough.

Philadelphia has Joel Embiid back, bumping them from “first-round fodder” to “team Milwaukee would really hate to face,” though in light of the Bucks’ fading that label applies to most teams. Even at full strength, it’s hard to imagine either beating the Celtics four games out of seven. One reason: the C’s forwards are Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, both big, long, athletic two-way stars. Last year they lost to Denver, whose forwards were Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr.; the year before that they lost in the Finals, where Golden State’s forwards were Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins; in prior years, Tatum/Brown have lost to Miami teams led by Jimmy Butler or LeBron James. You have to fight Boston’s fire at forward with fire. I’m a Tsunami Papi fan, but color me skeptical Kelly Oubre and Tobias Harris can outplay the Js when the stakes are highest – even with Embiid back.

Giannis Antetokounmpo continues to play as well as anybody – his 28/15/8 last night didn’t even register as such – but his teammates raise doubts. Khris Middleton left yesterday’s game early after losing a tooth, a freak injury but not an isolated one; counting yesterday’s game, Middleton’s played just 85 games the past two seasons combined. Damian Lillard was acquired to win the intercontinental arms race, but while he’s still been pretty great by most player’s standards, by his own lofty levels he’s been less a U.S.S.R.-level nuclear threat and more, say . . . France. Compared to most countries around the world, France is a nuclear power. Compared to most point guards around the league, Dame is a nuclear power. But with the offseason additions of Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday upping Boston’s offensive arsenal from atomic to thermonuclear, France may as well be Fiji.

The Knicks are the one team in the East with both a legitimate MVP and all the other bits needed to give the Celtics a series. If we go back a quarter-century, we find an example of a model of contender the Knicks have souped-up. And in a twist not ironic but coincidental, we again find Philadelphia and Milwaukee as reference material. The 2001 Bucks and 76ers are not a perfect parallel to the 2024 Celtics and Knicks, but they’re good enough for rock ‘n roll.

In Allen Iverson, those Sixers, like today’s Knicks, were led by a small guard out of the Big East who played bigger than anyone else. The ‘01 Sixers reached a new level at the trade deadline after acquiring a legendary defensive star in Dikembe Mutombo. The numbers say the Sixers were defensively dominant and offensively just fine, but the latter was due entirely to Iverson’s miraculous ability to expose and create the finest of gaps in the defense; their next-leading shot taker was Aaron McKie, which is like your 2nd-leading shot taker being Josh Hart. Like these Knicks, those Sixers were an elite offensive-rebounding team. What they lacked in talent they more than made up for in physicality and drive.

Iverson’s nickname was The Answer, which always struck me as unintentionally funny given the constant questions about how Philly built around him. When they reached the 2001 Finals they were in my eyes the worst team I’d ever seen get there. Iverson was as good as anybody then, and Mutombo still mattered, at least on one end, but he was 34. Those Sixers could defend as well as anybody, but four of their starters were 4th- or 5th-options on offense. That’s not an answer, that’s a Hail Mary. And Iverson nearly delivered: in the Eastern finals the 76ers defeated a Bucks team with the league’s top offense but no defensive chops. One one-sided team to rule them all . . .   

Last night was the first time this season the Knicks went into a big game knowing the guys they went in with are (knock on wood) who they’ll be going with the rest of the way. They have an MVP guard who scores as much and as efficiently as anybody. They elevated their ceiling by acquiring a legendary defensive star at the trade deadline; it doesn’t take long for OG Anunoby to show why it hurts so much when he’s out. The Knicks are defensively pretty terrific; the numbers say the offense is just fine, although the eye test has shown that’s usually because they’re elite when Brunson plays (which is most of the game) and drop off a cliff when he doesn’t. The rest of the story is where these Knicks differ from those Sixers. In a good way.  

The ‘01 Sixers were a team of one-way players. The ‘24 Knicks are a team of two-way players. Last night they were all shining. Few teams today get plus-play out of their centers; the Knicks do from two, now that Mitchell Robinson is a starter-caliber 5 playing mostly bench minutes and rounding back toward the form he was showing in a career-year before he hurt his ankle. Between him and Isaiah Hartenstein, the Knicks always have a big out there who can rebound, alter or block shots, and depending on which one’s out there can rim-run, create assist screens, facilitate from out high or attack 4-on-3s. Mutombo wasn’t doing any of that. Neither was Tyrone Hill.

Last night the fourth opened with the Knicks up four and Brunson on the bench. If these were the Iverson Sixers, Brunson couldn’t afford to rest, and for a good while this year these spots have killed the Knicks. Not last night, not with Bojan Bogdanović playing his supporting actor role to perfection. Brunson, per usual, played the entire first and third quarters; in the two he didn’t Bogie scored all 15 of his points, including a sweet suite of swishes in the fourth to keep the lead at double-digits until JB’s return.  

The ‘01 Sixers lost in the Finals to a Laker team featuring Shaq and Kobe at their zenith. Don’t sleep on the other Lakers in that series showcasing a critical difference between those teams, and why you should buy into whatever hype your heart is feeding you about this Knick team. When Iverson needed help offensively, he had nowhere to turn. When Shaq and Kobe needed help, Derek Fisher, Robert Horry and Rick Fox gave them reliable options. None were ever going to be All-Stars, but they defended and made big shots when they had to. 

Hart will likely never be an All-Star. I’d say Donte DiVincenzo is a longshot, too, as is Miles McBride. Never say never; I promise you in 1991 nobody had Charles Oakley or Dale Davis reaching that level, either. The point is that Hart, DDV, McBride, Mitch – these are co-stars. Legitimate. The playoffs are a different animal entirely, so we’ll see especially how McBride’s shooting fares under the spotlight. But the Knicks feature two-way players up and down the roster. They have size. Shooters. Secondary creators. Dawgs. The Sixer non-stars did one thing each, maybe two. These Knicks do it all.

The ‘01 Sixers nearly figured out the formula for how to build around a short unstoppable scoring guard. The league is different now than it was then, but these Knicks aren’t those 76ers. Last night the Bucks got their first taste of a Knick team that can throw OG at Giannis, and 48 minutes of iHart/Mitch. They’ve had more than their fill of Brunson, who’s averaging 37 a game against them in five meetings. The 2024 Celtics are better than the 2001 Bucks, but the 2024 Knicks are better than the 2001 Sixers. Where do the 2024 Bucks fit in? Time will tell, but if Milwaukee reaches the second round you can bet they’d rather see big-ass Paolo Banchero or Evan Mobley waiting for them at center court and not the thick shorty the haters keep trying to poke holes in while he pokes holes in every defense he sees.