Our last, best hope

ty to be excited about, but we’ve got four months until those games mean anything.

Conditioned by years of mediocrity—and worse—I never thought I’d say it; but thank goodness for the New York Knicks.

It’s something of a surprise to be here, in May, still talking about New York basketball, but here we are, as of press time, with the Knicks tied 1-1 with the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. It’s something that makes even the most devout Knicks fan scratch his head and wonder if this is 1999.

And it couldn’t have come at a better time if you’re a New York sports fan. The Rangers, fresh off a deep playoff run in 2022, sputtered in the first round against the Devils, looking listless and lazy in a seven-game loss end their season. The Mets and the Yankees, though certainly not out of contention, are mired in the near-.500 muck and playing in divisions where they’re just not—at least to this points—matching the stride of the leaders.

If you’re a Jets or Giants fan—particularly if you root for for Gang Green—there’s plen-

Which leaves us with the Knicks, a team that has been downright dreadful for the majority of my adult life. But now, it seems, they will be, for at least a week or so, the lone bright spot for many area sports fans.

I don’t know exactly how this came to happen. Sure, the Knicks were fun during the bubble year, but last year’s disappointing finish—coupled with their inability to land Donovan Mitchell in the offseason—left me and many other fans less-than-bullish on their chances in the 2022-23 season.

But it was the less flashy moves, the adding of a Jalen Brunson, the trading for Josh Hart, that have made the difference. Are the Knicks a true threat to win an NBA Championship as currently constituted? Not a chance. Is their gritty style of play—a superstar-less blueprint built on hauling in rebounds that is particularly sweet for people like me who remember those 90s teams—capable of potentially taking them to an Eastern Conference Finals appearance? I’d say it is.

And honestly, when you’re hurting for a compelling storyline, you could do a lot worse than this Knicks team. New Yorkers are hungry for a winner in the first place, and this team seems to have the same sort of DNA our city’s hoops fans gravitate to. So for however long this run lasts, we’ll all be onboard, “Bing Bonging” until the cows come home.

And they will, eventually; so let’s just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Follow Mike on Twitter @LiveMike_Sports