Photo: Wendell Cruz/USA Today Sports
2,000 fans showed up to Madison Square Garden to watch their beloved Knicks on Tuesday night for the first time since March 8 when the Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons. Gov. Andrew Cuomo reinstated fans to attend games in New York sporting venues at a limited capacity after suspending them from going when the COVID-19 pandemic began last March.
It sounded like old times.
They saw the Knicks take a 114-106 loss to the Golden State Warriors. On this night, they did not see their team play with intelligence, effort and gumption that they saw throughout the Knicks’ 15-17 start. Maybe players experienced stage fright in playing in front of the fans.
Despite all that, the Knicks enjoyed playing in front of the fans. It sure beats playing in front of an empty crowd. They don’t have to hear canned noise blaring through the MSG speakers.
New York needed this night. The city looks dead when walking through 7th Ave. from Penn Station every night after taking the NJ Transit train from work.
Homeless people surround Penn Station and the Garden every night. Restaurants and bars are out of business since Cuomo shut down indoor dining. Tourists stopped going to the city.
More than ever, the city needs the Knicks to do well for it to rebound.
Yes, the Nets play in New York, but they play in Brooklyn. No one thinks of Brooklyn when thinking about the city. It might as well be a suburb than being a part of the city. Manhattan serves as the heart of the city where businesses, arts and entertainment take place. The Nets ‘success would have no impact in Manhattan.
For New York to do well, Manhattan has to rise up from the ashes again. The Knicks can do that since they play in the heart of New York City. More visitors will come to the Garden than spend a cold night in nondescript Brooklyn.
If the Knicks do well, businesses come back on track and everything gets rolling again. New York would be back.
With the Nets playing well enough to win an NBA championship this season, the Knicks reach a critical juncture, which they need to head in the right direction heading to next season. This means the Knicks must create a culture of success that would get a player like Bradley Beal to want to play for them.
As fun as the Knicks are these days, they need a star. Stars win championships. The Nets boast three stars in Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden. When those three are on, they will be hard to beat, especially in a seven-game series.
The Knicks don’t have one on their roster. Maybe Immanuel Quickley turns out to be that star, but they need more than him for this franchise to be a championship contender. Hard to believe it will be RJ Barrett, who likely would be trade bait to get a player like Beal. They need to get at least two stars to pair with Quickley for them to be in business.
The Knicks can make the playoffs with this roster, but they would be hard-pressed to get past the second round without a star. Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau and Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose know that, so they are creating a foundation for success that would convince stars to play for the Knicks.
Knicks fans want to see their team play with heart and effort every game. They want to see a team that will pass the ball and score rather than shooting itself out of a game. They haven’t seen that since Jeff Van Gundy bailed out on the Knicks in 2001. It took until Thibodeau’s arrival for them to play defense, which has been the team’s calling card.
No one will confuse these Knicks with the 90s Knicks. Still, everything is relative. Competence and wins are back for a change, and that could get the city on the rebound with people coming to the Garden to watch this overachieving, entertaining team.
Pro sports represents the backbone of the community, and the Knicks bring the city and the Metropolitan area together when they win.
So much is riding on the Knicks. This year’s success can go a long way to what can happen next year.
A playoff berth and a playoff series win should be the goal for these gritty Knicks. It’s doable in an Eastern Conference that features one great team, one decent team and so many awful teams.
The more Knicks win, the more people will come out to fill the Garden and 34th St.
Maybe then homeless people will scram from Penn Station and 34th St. altogether on game nights.
