17. Game 7 1984 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals Knicks vs. Celtics

 

Three straight Celtic games!

..I swear, the Celtics won’t keep appearing on this list.

 

1984 was a magical year for the Knicks; it was their best year since their championship year in ’73. Bernard King was a monster, averaging 26 pts on 57% shooting, finishing second in MVP voting.[1]

57%!!  Holy shit!  King was easily the best pure scorer  in Knick history.

Not only did he average 26 on 57% for the season, but he may have had the most dominant postseason in Knick history.  He turned it up a notch, scoring 35 points a night on 57% shooting. He averaged 43 points in the first round against the Pistons and leading his team to a series victory with 44 in the deciding game.

Too bad, there isn’t anything to show for his dominance. Just like Melo’s 42 against the Celtics in Game 2, this game was painful to watch. It’s always excruciating to see a great performance be wasted on a loss, ask LeBron James during his first stint with the Cavs.

The Knicks were massive underdogs in this series; the Celtics were the best team in the league, winning 62 games, and the Knicks were just a scrappy 45-win fifth seed, who needed every bounce to beat the Pistons in the previous round.

The Knicks never really had a chance in Game 7.  The home team had won every game of the series up to that point and the Celtics had won the previous home games in this series by an average of 18 points, while the Knicks squeaked out three close home victories.  Larry Bird had one of the greatest performances in a Game 7 in NBA history ,finishing the game with 39 pts, 12 rbs, and 10 assts.

Sure, the Knicks weren’t supposed to win, but the aftermath is the main reason why this game appears on this list.

Unfortunately, that’s as close as the King would ever get to a title. The next year, King blew out his knee, against the Kings and we never got to see the dominance of King in a Knick uniform again.

The good news is that the Knicks were “awarded” the first pick and selected Patrick Ewing, who became the greatest Knick of all time.

Too bad Ewing never won a ring and I have a sneaky suspicion you’ll see some of the reasons why later on this list….

 

Up Next: 16. Game 6 1969 NBA Eastern Division Finals Celtics vs. Knicks

 

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[1] Larry Bird won the MVP and was amidst of one of the most dominant stretches in NBA History.

18. 2011 Game 2 Eastern Conference First Round vs. Boston Celtics

 

To be honest, it took me several hours to decide which of the first two games against the Celtics was more agonizing to watch.  After going back and forth with myself, I decided this game was more agonizing for one reason and one reason only:

Carmelo Anthony’s Performance

No, it didn’t match Jordan’s 63 against the Celtics in ’86, but it was still extraordinary.  It’s not hyperbole when I say it is the greatest Knick offensive performance in the playoffs I have ever seen. [i]

He finished with 42 Pts, 17 Rebs, literally carrying the entire team on his back, like Bernard King did back in ’84.

Where was Amare?  He finished with four points on 2-9 shooting. Let’s give him a break though, he did miss the second half due to back spasms he suffered doing a dunk before the game.  And like I mentioned in the previous game, Billups did not play due to a strained left knee and wouldn’t play another game in a Knicks uniform.

The Knicks lineup during crunch time consisted of: Carmelo Anthony, Toney Douglas, Jared Jeffries, Bill Walker, and Roger Mason.

Think about that for a second….

 

The Knicks still had a chance to win this game; Jeffries converted with 19 seconds left, putting the Knicks up by one. But Kevin Garnett hit a tough shot putting the Celtics back up one with 13 seconds left.  On the ensuing possession, Melo gets the ball, and passes it to a WIDE OPEN Jeffries, who inexplicably fumbles the pass and loses the ball out of bounds.  Of course, it should have been Amare down there, instead of Jeffries, but still, Jeffries is an NBA player (who led the Hoosiers to beat my Blue Devils back in 2002) and he should be able to at least attempt a shot. He had just made a more difficult layup 15 seconds earlier.

No one he was frequently booed during his tenure with the Knicks.

As a result of the play, the Celtics had the ball with about four seconds left.  Melo inexplicably forgets he has to foul Rajon Rondo and nearly lets time expire before fouling with .9 seconds left.

How the hell does he forget to foul in that situation? That play doesn’t negate Melo’s magnificent performance, but one can argue that is his career in a nutshell.

The Knicks lost 96-93, a game they should have won and because of that game, the Knicks were demoralized and ended up getting swept and being the only team who qualified for the playoffs, but didn’t win a game.

 

God, I hate the Celtics….

 

 

Up Next: 17. Game 7 1984 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals Knicks vs. Celtics

 

 

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[i] I’m talking about from the 90s on, I wasn’t alive to witness King dominate in ’84.

20. 2013 Game 6 ECSF vs. Indiana Pacers

Ahhhhhh, the game that gave me the idea to come up with this list in the first place. The Knicks were supposed to beat the Pacers to set up an anticipated Eastern Conference Finals matchup with the Miami Heat.

But the Pacers had other plans…

After having their best season in over a decade, surprising everyone by winning 54 games, the Knicks’ season abruptly ended in Indiana. The Knicks had nearly come back from a 3-1 series deficit to force a game 7 , but Carmelo decided to channel his inner John Starks, scoring only 4 points in the 4^th. To be fair, it wasn’t his entire fault the Knicks lost that game, in fact he doesn’t even get 5% of the blame if you ask me.  He did finish the game with 39 points and besides of a few Shumpert threes, no other Knick showed up on the offensive end. The Knicks shot terribly throughout the series, including J.R. Smith who shot an abysmal 4-15 in game 6 and 29% for the entire series[1] and Raymond Felton, who somehow ended up finishing the game without making a field goal.

Of course, there is the block, which is the most memorable part of this game and spurred an 11-2 run, but the most painful part of this game is watching New York High School legend, Lance Stephenson score a playoff career high 25 points, including nine points during the run. The Knicks passed on him twice in the 2010 NBA Draft, drafting Landry Fields and Andy Rautins.[2] Now three years later, instead of having him on the team, the Knicks were forced to watch Lance Stephenson torture Knicks in the 4^th quarter like Reggie Miller used to do.

            The Knicks haven’t been to the playoffs since then. But do not worry; the free agent signings of Robin Lopez, Derrick Williams, and Kyle O'quinn will propel the Knicks back into the playoffs, right?[3]

In Derek Fisher we trust!


Up Next : #19.  2011 Game 1 Eastern Conference First Round vs. Boston Celtics

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[1] He was never the same after throwing an elbow to Jason Terry

[2]  What a surprise, another Knicks draft blunder

[3] I somehow forgot to include Aaron Affalo, what a misstep.