Knicks 121, Pacers 91: "This team turned my 94-year-old grandma ...

I was fully aware of what the Knicks were playing for long before a little message popped up in my timeline reminding me about it.

“The Knicks [are] one win away from their first Eastern Conference finals appearance since 2000.”

Since 2000. How crazy is that? Not crazier than the fact that New York was this close to making it to the ECF 11 years ago... when a certain Roy Hibbert, member of the Indiana Pacers of all teams, did deny them.

Not crazier than the fact that New York booked a trip to the ECF for one last time exactly 24 years ago... when a certain Reggie Miller, member of the Indiana Pacers of all teams, met them there.

Not crazier than those ‘00 Knicks winning precisely 50 games in that Y2K regular season... and the ‘24 Knicks replicating that exact same outcome this year.

Yes, the Knicks ended up losing the 2000 conference finals to the Pacers. Yes, the Knicks (probably) end up losing the 2024 conference finals to (most probably) the Celtics. Parallels, right? How dumb they are...

Yet even then, in an eventual ECF loss, whether it comes in the shape of a sweep or tight seven-game battle against the Celtics and the BMM, and for the good or the bad of the future of the New York Knicks organization... how can you not love this team? How can you not love this faithful? This fanbase? This Madison Square Garden arena?

Peep the comment section from the Game 5 Thread, and you’ll find jacoop writing one of many posts echoing the same deeper sentiment. What this freaking team is doing for every Knicks fan and their mothers (and grannies) is just insanely delightful.

“My 94 year old grandma just called me to talk about the game,” jacoop wrote. “This team has turned her into a fan fr.”

For real.

If you are one of those who think this Knicks postseason is a “fluke,” well, let me tell you what was a fluke was Sunday’s afternoon massacre.

So much so that for one reason or another life got in my way so I could not write a game recap (I haven’t checked but I’d say we here at P&T have not missed more than four or five since the start of the campaign in October, just for contest) on Monday.

On Sunday, the Pacers scored 121 points and allowed the Knicks (“the Knicks”) to score 89. On Tuesday, the Knicks scored 121 points and limited the Pacers to 91.

91.

Indiana had not scored fewer than 92 points all year long, regular- and post-season games included. They hit that figure in a first-round loss to the Bucks on Tuesday, April 30. Before that, they were limited to 94 once by those same Bucks in Game 1, and to 99 in a late March affair at Chicago. That’s it, that’s the count.

Never 91. Until they met the real, not the fluky, New York Knicks inside the Garden on Tuesday.

You know what tells you the Knicks played Knicks Basketball and prevented the Pacers from playing Pacers Basketball?

DiVincenzo getting the Jomboy Treatment.

Alec Burks and I-Hart putting their hands on Indiana’s Isaiah Jackson’s neck in the absolute most disrespectful, I-don’t-give-two-Fs-who-you-are way to defend a teammate.

Isaiah Hartenstein grabbing more offensive boards (12 of them) than all players except eight that go by other name to ever grace a hardwood court since the L is the L. It’s been 30 years since a Knicks player last did it. Go figure.

And finally, for the naysayers and the haters, I want to wrap up today’s pice by mentioning a tiny ball of magnificence called Jalen Brunson. Seventh player in NBA history with at 5+ 40-point games in a single postseason. I don’t even need to type the full name of the rest: LeBron, Jordan, Iverson, King, Hakeem, and Shaquille.

Now, I’ll be kind and allow you (the haters out there) to pick your name (poison) of choice adding JB’s name to the list. Would you rather use Jalen or Brunson? I won’t be mad at either.

Knicks at Indiana. Friday. Knicks in six.

Go Knicks!