When was the last time you had so much fun watching your team? When was the last time one of the clubs you follow was so exciting? Forget about wins and losses for a moment. However, it’s only for a moment. Because what makes the Knicks even more fun right now is that they’re winning every night.
When was the last time you went home to watch a regular season game?
If you had other commitments, when was the last time you recorded a game on your DVR?
“Right now we have joy,” Donte DiVincenzo said immediately after the latest Ode to Joy, a 118-103 win over the Jazz. The hyphen is a hint.
Joy is the perfect word to describe what’s going on with this team right now.
But it’s also fun. Maybe Tom Thibodeau still looks like he’s sitting in the dentist’s chair in the dying moments of a game where the lead drops below 20 points, but the 19,133 and others he spent most of the game managing , everyone else seems to be having a hell of a time. ” MVP! ” chant directed at Jalen Brunson, ending with an attempt to get his old friend Taj Gibson off the bench.
“Our players are playing hard, playing defense, rebounding the ball, playing smart and playing tough,” Thibodeau said. “It’s a long journey.”
Perhaps this is ultimately unsustainable. They absolutely trashed January, winning 14 of the 16 games they played this month without giving Mitchell Robinson a second, and the last two without Julius Randle and OG Anunoby. It’s the same as In most of those wins, the only angst that accompanied them was that the Capitol Police were worried about Thibodeau staying in the starting lineup too long. That’s when you know it’s a good time.
However, that doesn’t diminish the joy of watching this team play right now. They work hard on both ends of the floor, the ball moves around, everyone gets touches, everyone gets shots. they rebound. They play defense. The only reason they couldn’t hold the team under 100 points for the 15th time this season was because the Jazz (who are averaging 128 points in their last 12 games) maximized their garbage time.
“We do a lot of little things,” says Josh Hart, basketball’s master of the little things, adding a nifty 10-10-10 next to his name on the final stat sheet. A triple double was recorded. “We play in the flow of the offense and are very aggressive on defense.”
said DiVincenzo, who had 33 points with four assists, four steals and nine threes. And we did it. ”
After trailing the Nuggets and Heat by a combined 54 points in last year’s Finals and dueling with a raucous Garden crowd last week, it was hard to believe that the Knicks could find a new level of fun. And when Randle went down on Saturday, there was a legitimate jolt that fell on Bliss, and no one laughed much when Anunoby’s elbow started working in Charlotte on Monday.
But that’s part of what makes it all easy on the eyes. “Next man up” is a great mantra, an easy slogan to write on a blackboard, but much harder to put into practice. The Knicks played eight great quarters at virtually full strength without Robinson against Denver and Miami. The competition in the last few games has decreased. The results were not.
“We accept the challenges along the way,” Thibodeau said. “Most teams go through something like that. Mental toughness is a big part of it.”
As a result, this team is becoming a must-see team on TV and a must-have ticket for bold-faced names. (Jennifer Gray was at her house and the house almost came crashing down when she appeared on the scoreboard above her head and did a few moves to the song “Dirty Dancing.”)
“This is a collective effort,” said Brunson, who had a 29-point, nine-assist night in his final testimony before the All-Star team is announced Thursday. “We’ve got a few guys, but it’s not going to be just one guy. They’re all stepping up and we have the right people and the right mindset to make it happen. Everyone is at their best. We are working on it and the most important thing is that we are winning.”
And he did it with style and flair…well, DiVincenzo got one of the right words: joy. That’s another thing to look forward to. Not much fun has happened in New York over the past few years, but it’s wise to enjoy the situation while it lasts. If we’re lucky, they might even transport us deep into spring.
