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I Couldn’t Ask For a Better Start to My Pacers Era Than Watching Knicks Fans Have Their Hearts Ripped Out by Tyrese Haliburton
By Kyle Pagan
Published:
What a way to start my Pacers era! YESSSS CERRRRRRS!!! The Knicks just had their worst choke in franchise history. Tyrese Haliburton ripped the hearts out of everyone inside of Madison Square Garden, Aaron Nesmith couldn’t miss, and now we’re up 1-0! Pacers in 4! PACERS IN 4! This Eastern Conference Finals stuff is fun! The Sixers should try it some time. BING BONG!
There is nothing that brings me more joy in life than watching Knicks fans lose their minds. I don’t even hate the Knicks that much. I can’t stand their fucking fans. You’re going to see in half of these videos phones out, ready to talk all the shit in the world they can even though they haven’t won anything in 50+ years. You’d think they’d have a little decorum. Maybe a little bit of self-restraint. Tone it back a little when your entire existence has been miserable for the majority of your franchise’s life. Watching them have their hearts ripped out is cathartic.
Like look at this guy. Phone at the ready, his monologue already planned out in his head, clips loaded in the chamber, and he couldn’t wait .5 a second more before he was about to say “Fuck the Pacers! Knicks in 4!” Blah blah blah blah blah:
Fuck chicken soup. This shit is good for my soul.
You want me to respect these fans? Fuck you:
Karma is the guy outside MSG chanting “Knicks in 4” in the streets:
They just keep getting better and better!
I don’t read a ton of the written word anymore, but I would if it could paint more scenes like inside the Garden last night, via Mike Vorkunov at The Athletic (with ads):
The silence inside Madison Square Garden was inescapable.
It will endure as long as this night haunts the New York Knicks and their battered fan base. Thousands of people all in one place, under one roof, barely able to utter a word. It was a wake in real time for a loss that felt so unexpected and so painful it could only be met by that ineffable feeling of a broken heart, tongues tied by fatigue and incredulity.
The stairways and escalators of MSG, often a vibrant afterparty following wins, were quiet, too. They are as good a barometer of the franchise as any record, or any check-in on the standings. When the Knicks win, there is pure joy, some untoward words, and a waft of weed. Wednesday night, there was nothing more than a few loose words tumbling out of pursed lips.
What is it like to see some 20,000 fans nearly catatonic, all in some state of shock? It looked a lot like this. It looked a lot like the world’s most dour arena, beset by the kind of depression only high-stakes playoff basketball can invoke. Even decades of pain couldn’t prepare them for this. A psyche callused over time by dreadful seasons and extinguished hope can still hurt.
Absolute cinema. Pacers in 4!
Kyle writes blog posts and does Man on the Street-style videos all around Philadelphia. He graduated from Temple University (a basketball school) in 2015. contact: k.pagan@sportradar.com