No, the Knicks aren’t legit
The New York Knicks have somehow, to every NBA fan’s disbelief, started off the 2021 season 5-4. Above .500 through nine games for the first time since a lot of us can remember (for frame of reference, the last time the Knicks actually finished a season with a winning record was 2012-2013).
Julius Randle has finally taken a step forward in his seventh season, as he’s averaging career highs in scoring with 22.6 points, rebounds with 12 and assists with 7.3 per game. RJ Barrett looks much more comfortable in his second season putting up 17.3 points and hauling in 7.2 rebounds a game, Immanuel Quickley looks like a late first round hit and the list could go on for the team from the Concrete Jungle.
This Knicks team has wins over the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, Atlanta Hawks and Utah Jazz. The combined record for these teams one might ask? 25-19 — pretty solid in one of the strangest NBA seasons to date.
Not only that, four of those five wins were close at one point in the fourth quarter. This team has figured out how to win close games. One of which came against a perennial playoff team in the Western Conference — the Utah Jazz.
With 4:16 to go in the fourth quarter, newly-acquired Austin Rivers stepped up for New York, scoring 14 of the team’s final 16 points to move from a 99-96 lead to hammering home a 112-100 victory for New York. For Rivers, 12 of those 14 points came from three-point land. And get this — he’s a career 35 percent shooter from deep. He has yet to finish a season shooting over 40 percent. Right now, he’s converting 48.1 percent of those shots.
After Rivers’ performance to close out the win over the Jazz, Chris Vernon of The Ringer’s The Mismatch podcast went as far as to say, “If you had no awareness of who Austin Rivers was before and you watched that, you’d think he’s the biggest superstar in the league! This is like Kobe (Bryant) stuff!” His co-host, Kevin O’Connor added a similar sentiment: “He’s the best Knicks point guard since Jeremy Lin.” Not quite Linsanity, but still pretty damn insane to say the least.
It’s safe to say that if fans were allowed inside, Madison Square Garden would have been and would continue an absolute nuthouse. For the fans of such a disappointing franchise, this start would revitalize a city and organization that desperately needs it.
And guess what? None of this means the Knicks are a legitimate contender to make the playoffs in the East.
Sorry to rain on your parade Knicks fans, but the ole’ Knickerbockers being atrocious at basketball has been a staple of the last twenty years. It’s like Tom Brady winning Super Bowls, Jennifer Anniston being a solid ten out ten no matter her age and Joe Rogan somehow or another always being relevant.
This team has the worst owner in all of sports, Tom Thibodeau is bound to run his players into the ground and really — how long can a pro basketball team lean on incredible performances from Julius Randle and Austin Rivers being compared to Kobe Bryant?
As tough as it is to hear Knicks fans, chances are you’ll be stuck praying for the ping pong balls to fall your way for at least a few more miserable seasons.
