We have seen the Knicks’ heart plenty this year. There have been stretches of the season when it seemed things were about to spin sideways on them, times when it felt like they were on the precipice of a killing skid, and they’ve always managed to find themselves in time, always gotten back on the proper pathway.
There was the Sunday afternoon at the Garden when the Knicks, sitting at 10-13 and coming off a bloodletting loss to the Mavericks, stepped up and provided a harbinger of a win at home against the Cavs, sparking an eight-game winning streak. There was a stretch in February when the Knicks had sunk to the No. 7 spot in the East, only two games out of 10th, when they embarked on a season-defining nine-game winning streak.
It has felt, much of the season, that the Knicks are at their best when the dark clouds have gathered and the abyss beckons.
Which is a good thing.
Because Tuesday night, the Knicks face their first real crucible of the season. If they want to retain a realistic chance of winning this Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Heat, they really need to make sure that they head to Miami this weekend with the series knotted at a game apiece. It feels like more than just a game is on the table Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.
It feels like the whole season is.
“Our confidence is always high, the confidence never wavers,” RJ Barrett said Monday, after the Knicks returned to work after dropping Game 1 to the Heat on Sunday at the Garden, 108-101. “We’re very confident in what we can do in this series. It was Game 1, and they got it. They got Game 1. We watched the film, saw what we needed to do, corrected what we needed to correct. Now it’s just about being prepared for [Tuesday].”
It had better be. If we’ve learned anything from the Knicks this year, it’s that they aren’t afraid to win on the road; they have won 26 of the 44 games they’ve played away from MSG this year. And if we’ve learned anything from sports the past few weeks, it’s that home court isn’t nearly what it used to be. The Warriors won Game 7 in Sacramento. The Heat won twice in Milwaukee, the Knicks twice in Cleveland. Two road teams won Game 7s Sunday in the NHL.
That said?
The Knicks can certainly win a road game in Miami — as they did back on March 3, a wild 122-120 game — and reclaim the home-court advantage. But winning twice would be a different kind of ask. Not impossible, just improbable. So getting even on Tuesday is vital.
“It’s a seven-game series,” Immanuel Quickley said. “You don’t win in one game. So we have to just go back to making adjustments, making corrections. Just be ready for Game 2.”
Maybe Jimmy Butler will show up hobbled for Game 2. Maybe the Heat will opt to keep him in street clothes, having already stolen a game at the Garden, hoping to take advantage of the three off-days between Game 2 and Game 3. That’s irrelevant for the Knicks, who played one of their worst games of the last two months Sunday, unable to shoot, unable to protect a 12-point lead, unable to come back at the Heat after they made their surge.
Butler was terrific but he was all but reduced to a statue in the game’s last four minutes and the Knicks couldn’t pounce. Kyle Lowry came out of mothballs and burned the Knicks consistently. Kevin Love, given up for dead by the Cavs (smart move, there) delivered plenty of long outlets to streaking teammates, enough to surely impress courtside observer Aaron Rodgers.
A repeat of that won’t do.
A repeat of that would put the Knicks’ season up against the danger zone.
“Some nights, you make shots, some nights, you don’t,” Barrett said. “What can you do to win the game regardless? That’s what it comes down to.”
The Knicks got smacked around in Game 2 of the Cavs series and there was a genuine sense of urgency when Game 3 resumed at the Garden, but the truth is the Knicks had already done what they needed to do in Cleveland. Game 2 would’ve been nice, but it wasn’t necessary.
This time around Game 2 is essential. It’s the first true trial. Win, they can feel a lot better about stealing home court right back next weekend. Lose? They won’t be feeling good about anything as they wait four torturous days for Game 3.