Pelicans 113, Knicks 105: The truth shall make you free
A meaningless loss taught us a lot — about these Knicks and prior versions
“And ye shall know the truth,” the ironically anonymous author of the Gospel of John wrote, “and the truth shall make you free.” In that vein, after the shorthanded New York Knicks (missing Julius Randle, Jalen Brunson and Mitchell Robinson), in a pointless penultimate game 81 (their playoff seeding is locked at #4) on the road against a team with everything to play for, the New Orleans Pelicans (who came in winners of 8 of 10, their last four victims the Nuggets, the Grizzlies and the Clippers home and away) gave ‘em hell for 46 minutes, it’s time for some freedom. That means it’s time to forgive, for forgiveness is as much about freeing ourselves from our pain as it is absolving our debtors of their guilt.
You are forgiven, 2016-17 Knicks. You were so bad that LeBron James and several Cleveland teammates were playing flip bottle on their bench during a nationally televised game against you at Madison Square Garden. In what would be one of the longest barren stretches in franchise history, this was another level, like going to bed a little dry-mouthed and waking up on Mars. The Knicks entered that night 12-9 and looking forward to testing themselves against the then-defending champs. They trailed by 10 after one, 15 at the half, 27 after three and lost by 32. Those Knicks had something to play for and got interred and insulted. Last night’s Knicks showed how dangerous – and hungry – they are, even absent three starters.
You are forgiven, Phil Jackson. You were tactless and insular, which is not forgotten. But it was under your watch that the Knicks, trapped for years in certain unhealthy patterns, first did the hard work of digging newer, healthier neural pathways. One of those new directions: holding onto your own draft picks. In the 2000s the Knicks traded away the pick that was Nenê Hilário, who went on to a 17-year career, as well as the picks that became Joakim Noah and LaMarcus Aldridge. The 2010s were trending the same: when Jackson took over New York’s front office late in the 2014 campaign, the Knicks were without a first-round pick for the third time in five years. Every year since they’ve kept their own pick, and now enjoy a surplus thanks to acquiring other teams’ first-rounders. Their fields were once fallow and few. Now the Knicks are a land of milk and honey.
You are forgiven, David Fizdale. You didn’t seem to have a clue what you were doing as far as Xs and Os. But you were tasked with changing the culture – the right assignment – without having any of the proper equipment to do the job. Whether winning is the chicken or the egg, without both there’s no breakfast; without breakfast, what hope is there for the rest of the day? Whether winning leads the culture to change or the culture changing creates winning, either way you need to get things right, and not just the point guard. Fizdale wanted the players to play better, to feel better about being players, and playing here. But he didn’t. He couldn’t. Tom Thibodeau can, and has.
You are forgiven, Nate Robinson, Chris Duhon, Iman Shumpert, Raymond Felton, Shane Larkin, José Manuel Calderón Borrallo, first-time-as-a-Knick Derrick Rose, Jarrett Jack, Frank Ntilikina, Emmanuel Mudiay, Trey Burke, Eflrid Payton and 2022 Alec Burks. You were neither the point guards we needed nor deserved. Now we got Jalen Brunson and Immanuel Quickley. We’re good!
You are forgiven, Curse of Crazy Eyes. Oh, you didn’t know about that curse? Pro’ly ‘cuz I invented it. The last year the Knicks won a playoff series was 2013, Kurt Thomas’ last year as a Knick and an NBA player. Before that, the last time they won a series they won two, in 2000. Kurt was there then, too. Ditto the year before that. The last year the Knicks won a playoff series without Kurt Thomas on the team, Titanic was released in theatres, Princess Diana was killed in Paris and leg-riding was all the rage.
Last night the Knicks lost a game, but won so much more. There are a lot of teams that have good years. Few are those who play with such ferocious dignity that they paint the past in a new light while serving as a guiding light for the franchise’s future. That’s the truth. So are these Knicks.
