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The Sixers Have Been to the NBA Finals More Recently than the Knicks
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Looking for an angle, but the pickings are slim. If you have an annoying Knicks fan in your life, here’s where you start:
There’s not much room for us to talk because the Sixers were a clown show this season and eliminated by the Knicks last year. Their loathsome fans took over the Wells Fargo Center and all of that. We haven’t been to the NBA Finals since a rookie driver named Hélio Castroneves won the Indy 500. So yeah, grasping at straws a bit, but banter is about being as petty as possible until the other person submits. And in a competition of who sucks less, it’s the Sixers. The last time the Knicks went to the Finals was pre-Y2K, when the Sega Dreamcast was big and Spongebob Squarepants had just debuted. They snuck in as an 8 seed, went on a miracle run, lost Patrick Ewing, then got clubbed 4-1 by the Spurs. They haven’t played for a title since.
This year felt different. They had some momentum going in, a starving basketball city that bought in and got behind the team. They knocked off an upstart Detroit team in the first round and then dispatched the defending champs in the second round. At the same time, the Cavs were taken out by the Pacers, giving New York home court advantage in the conference finals. What did they do with it? They blew it! They went down 2-0, clawed one back in Indy, then the Pacers gave them a freebie in game five before clubbing them again in game six. No amount of Jalen Brunson iso and high double stagger + dribbling around and drawing fouls was enough to pull the Knickerbockers out of that hole. They choked it away! They were up by double digits with 2:15 on the clock in game one and came up smaller than a miniature schnauzer doing the limbo. We haven’t seen a choke job like this since the #1 seed Sixers lost to the Hawks while Ben Simmons was passing up dunks for Matisse Thybulle layups instead.
Imagine dispatching the Celtics just to lose to the Pacers again. No disrespect to Indy, because they’re a good team, but they’re not the 96′ Bulls and the Knicks had everything going their way. Is it too early to ask if the Knicks have reached their ceiling? Who is pushing this roster over the top? Does Thibs need to go? When will New York fans turn on them? Will WFAN ratchet up the pressure? The honeymoon period is over!
“The Knicks are here baby!”
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com