Knicks 126, Spurs 105: Prometheus victorious
The Next Big Thing wasn’t Victor Wembanyama — it was the Knicks, standing tall and talented, on their first winning streak of the season after whupping the Spurs
Prometheus was originally a Titan, best known for swiping fire from the gods’ private stash and giving it to humanity. Intended as a gift, no one came away from the gesture unscathed: the gods were embarrassed and taken down a peg; humanity went from using fire for light and cooking to fueling weapons and factories now killing the planet; and Prometheus was chained to a rock where an eagle tore out and ate his liver every day, only for his flesh to heal, his liver to grow back and his suffering to repeat, forever and ever.
“The Modern Prometheus” was the subtitle Mary Shelley gave to her novel Frankenstein. In the story, Dr. Victor Frankenstein plants the spark of life in a reanimated corpse. It doesn’t end well. The doctor is the modern Prometheus, gifting something that wasn’t his to an audience not quite ready for prime time. We don’t know if humanity will ever get there; if you’ve read the novel, you know it’s no happy ending for the monster, either.
Victor Wembanyama is not quite ready for prime time, either, a point proved during his San Antonio Spurs’ 126-105 loss to the New York Knicks last night under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden. That’s no sin. 19 years old and just eight career games under his belt? You don’t need to see the gods riled up or the dead walking among us to appreciate the queasy delight of the unreal made real: it’s right there in front of us, running and jumping and looking more fever dream than first-draft pick.
Before the game, the youngster completed the obligatory genuflect-before-the-Mecca ritual the media demands of all rookies of note the first time they visit MSG. Wembanyama’s comment about the arena being “not as big as [he] expected” may not lead to a lifetime of liver damage, but it seemed to trigger the basketball gods, as for most of the night the rim seemed smaller than Wembanyama thought, too: he missed his first seven from the field before hitting a baseline jumper late in the third quarter. The real villains in need of divine punishment were the yokels in the crowd who chanted “Overrated!” at a teenager taking free throws in his first-ever game in New York. If fire brought us progress and progress has brought us ne’er-do-well nudniks nagging a nascent and nonpareil phenomenon, Prometheus can take back his gift, give us the receipt and let us exchange fire for something else, ‘cuz that’s no progress.
Wembanyama is the postmodern Prometheus, the one who throws all kinds of assumptions into question. Per Joe Vardon in The Athletic, Wilt Chamberlain had 43 and 28 in his first game at MSG, Oscar Robertson 28 and 11 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 36 and 27. Magic Johnson put up a triple-double. Michael Jordan had 33 in his first game here, a win. LeBron scored 22 and won. Kevin Durant scored 30 and won. Wembanyama put up 14 and 9 on 29% shooting. What kind of god does that?
You’d be surprised. Larry Joe Bird’s first game in New York was nearly the ignominious kind of triple-dub: 19, 11 and 10 turnovers as his 12-3 Celtics fell to a sub-.500 Knicks team. The first shot Shaquille O’Neal attempted under the pinwheel roof was pinned back by Patrick Ewing, on a night the world came to see the two bigs collide and yet the star of the show was Knick sixth man Charles Smith. Wembanyama airballed his first attempt against Mitchell Robinson. Shaq had 60 pounds on Ewing; Victor spotted Mitch 40. If the Big Fella had room to grow, the postmodern Prometheus has acres to grow. But the places Vic may grow are no more stunning than how far he’s already come.
The Knicks can relate. They’ve come about as far as any team can in a three-day span, what with Monday’s controlled detonation of the Clippers and last night’s end-to-end beating of the Spurs. A team facing the possibility of a 2-5 start will have a winning record if they win their next game, thanks to anyone and everyone playing a part in the effort. Not only hasn’t RJ Barrett missed a beat since returning from knee soreness, he’s continued to improve. Julius Randle scored 20 for the second consecutive game after spending the first few weeks looking like he might not hit 20 this month. Mitch continues to raise the roof on both his and his team’s ceiling. Immanuel Quickley’s played like last year’s playoffs were a mirage, and his brilliant regular season an oasis of aces and heart most clubs would hoard like diamonds.
The Spurs and their titan continue on their path, a humble stretch for now that could very well lead them to the top of Olympus. The Knicks? They keep on keeping on, making their way through the Association, forever feasting on the glass and turnovers – no chopped liver, those. In a sense the Knicks were Prometheus, victorious: they took the newest god’s aura and brought it down to earth, a formula that could take them farther than most think possible. Next game is Sunday at noon when they host Charlotte.
