Knicks 126, Wizards 106: Wilt Chamberlain* powers another win
The only good thing about New York’s 2024 ending is how it ended: WWWWWWWW
In late February 1962, John Glenn spoke before Congress. No one on this planet was more famous that day than he, only a week removed from becoming the first American to orbit the Earth, something Yuri Gagarin must have found cute. Glenn’s appearance before a joint session of Congress started late because so many members kept stopping him to pose for pictures. Dude came from outer space, seven years before Neil Armstrong’s great leap. Where Glenn walked, people followed; when he spoke, they listened. Glenn spoke.
“We are riding a crest of enthusiasm and happiness at this moment,” he told them in advocating for further funding of the space program. “There will be times when we are not on such a big crest as we are at this moment.” Glenn was trying to buttress the nation’s confidence for the inevitable mission failures and lives lost, to remind them when you’re going through hell, keep going. Hopefully Walt Bellmay was listening.
That night Bellamy, the Chicago Packers’ center, had the assignment of guarding the Philadelphia Warriors’ star player, one Wilton Norman Chamberlain. Years later, Bellamy would become a monumental figure later in Knick history. That winter night in 1962, he was the guy getting a 61/28/6 Wilt bomb dropped on his head, a stat line seen only one other time in the entirety of NBA history, about three months prior, when Elgin Baylor gave Wilt’s Warriors an even wilder 63/31/7.
In the second quarter of last night’s 126-106 Knick win in Washington – the team the Packers became after stints as the Chicago Zephyrs, Baltimore Bullets, Capital Bullets and Washington Bullets – Josh Hart put up 17 points, six rebounds and two assists. That was the quarter the Knicks took the lead for good, care of a Hart step-back; even sitting out the first 90 seconds of the frame, his production was equivalent to 68/24/8 over four quarters. When anyone is Wilt for a quarter – even Wilt, the biggest, baddest man of his age – we’ve moved from the realm of sports into something more spiritual. When it’s someone smaller than Damyean Dotson doing it, that’s miraculous.
17 points in a single frame is a career-best for Hart, a man whose essence could never be captured in a single frame. Chameleons see the world panoramically. How perfect is that: the player who blends in seamlessly game after game also produces the widest range of contributions. Last night Hart had his ninth career triple-double, all with the Knicks, already fourth in franchise history. Everybody remembers the Anunoby bump after last January’s trade, but Hart was the O.G. OG: the Knicks won their first nine games after acquiring him in 2023, rising from seventh in the East to fifth, meaning when the playoffs started they got to cut their teeth against “The Lights Were Too Bright” Cavs instead of the defending conference champion Celtics.
All the great Knick eras saw the team eventually choose one two-guard over another. In the Golden Age 1960s, the very good Howard Komives begat Hall of Famer Dick Barnett on the first title-winning team, who begat the even Hall of Fame-ier Earl Monroe on the second. In the Silver Age ‘90s, Pat Riley moved on from Gerald Wilkins, a man who sounded quite pleased with himself for “holding” Michael Jordan to 43 points in a playoff loss, to John Starks, a man so competitive he’d drive 24 hours straight wearing only an astronaut diaper just to guard MJ — today.
Last year Donte DiVincenzo was among New York’s top players. After Bridges was brought in, there wasn’t room for both Hart and DDV. Both are terrific players. The Knicks stuck with the better fit. It’s paid off – in the halfcourt, on the break, behind the arc, on defense, in the locker room, with the media.
The 2024 portion of the 2024-25 season ends as a crest of enthusiasm and happiness, with the Knicks 23-10, riding both road and overall winning streaks of eight games, just a half-game back of Boston for the division lead and the rearview behind looking clear, what with Orlando injury-riddled and Atlanta Atlanta. New York’s on pace to finish 10 or so games ahead of whoever’s fourth. Supposedly we’re about a month away from Mitchell Robinson either returning to the fold or the Knicks shipping him and his endless, mysterious Wilpon Mets-ass affliction somewhere for a real flesh-and-blood center – maybe Washington’s Jonas Valančiūnas. The lycanthropic Lithuanian was having fun all night with Hart, his former teammate in New Orleans.
There will be times the crest is not so big. Early January means two games in one week against Oklahoma City. After the All-Star break the Knicks face both a four-games-in-five stretch on the road and a seven-in-eight (if you’re looking for hope, they’re 3-0 on their current five-of-six swing). The non-Dominican starters all rank between first and sixth in the league in most minutes played, with Karl-Anthony Towns just inside the top-20. And a real-life Joker is set to take the reins of federal power soon, wanting to watch the world burn while he sells cheap gas to the lowest of the low. Some of you wish politics never found its way into a game recap, but if the climate is changing what kind of weather report ignores that?
Can Towns remain at an MVP level once the playoffs roll around? How does Brunson hold up after another few months of bumps and bruises? Will OG finally stay healthy? Will Bridges finally not? Nobody can say. But if you’re looking for something that endures in a world of fast food, fast fashion and microplastics, Josh Hart is somewhere out there, corralling a rebound, pushing the ball up and either finding a teammate open in the corner or taking it all the way to the hoop for that two-step move no one can stop. And if he or they miss, he’s probably grabbing the offensive rebound. The Knicks may never get Mitch back, but Wilt, even if only for a quarter, is as good a star as any to ride all the way to the final frontier.
