And here we have it.
Everything the Knicks fought for in a season full of triumphs and tribulations, injuries and trades, now boils down to the two-best words in all of sports.
Game Seven.
The Knicks, who have been decimated by injury, nearly closed their second-round series against the Indiana Pacers in five games.
But after the Knicks took Games 1 and 2 at home to start the series, the basketball gods answered Andrew Nembhard’s 30-foot prayer in Game 3.
Then the Knicks got stuck in the mud in a blowout loss in Game 4, and what could have been a 3-1 series headed back to Madison Square Garden for a closeout Game 5 is now a winner-take-all elimination game on Sunday afternoon.
At least the Knicks have home-court advantage.
And not just any home-court advantage, but the kind so rabid it follows a team on the road.
The kind players bust their you-know-whats for in the regular season because not all home courts are created equal.
Because this is New York City, the Mecca of Basketball, where the fans will be the sixth man for a Knicks roster down possibly to just five healthy players who were in the rotation to end the regular season.
“It’s what you live for. It’s why you sign with the Knicks,” Donte DiVincenzo said after his team’s 116-103 loss to the Pacers on Friday. “Come home, play in front of The Garden, Game 7. It’s gonna be rocking and that’s what we love.”
The Knicks never should have had the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed to begin with.
Not with the slew of injuries plaguing the roster virtually the entire season.
Jalen Brunson could only smirk at the podium following a crushing Game 6 defeat: Only after the Knicks lost Julius Randle (shoulder), and after they lost sixth man Bojan Bogdanovic (ankle), and after they lost Mitchell Robinson (ankle), and after they lost OG Anunoby (hamstring) did Josh Hart’s abdomen force him to the sidelines late Friday night.
“Obviously, something must have been really wrong, but I saw him come back in the game and continue the fight. I wasn’t really necessarily worried or anything,” Brunson said before smiling: “I guess you can just add it to the list.”
Hart’s status for Game 7 is in question.
The Knicks announced he would miss the remainder of the fourth quarter due to abdominal soreness in Game 6, but he was seen placing a heating pad on his abdomen while on the bench during the game.
His teammates believe he will play — Deuce McBride even said Hart looked like he felt better in the locker room after the game — but he will need to be cleared by the medical team first.
“Obviously, you never wanna see anybody get hurt, but it’s been our season. We have more than enough, whoever’s on the court,” said DiVincenzo. “I’ve said it 100 times: Whatever guys [are] on the court, we have a blueprint here, and Thibs demands certain things from certain guys. And you go out there, you compete your tails off, and you give yourself a chance to win. That’s our mindset. Whether he goes or not, that’s our mindset.”
“Just knowing him, he’ll do whatever to play,” added Isaiah Hartenstein. “If his leg’s not falling off, I can probably say he’ll probably play. I haven’t talked to him. We’ll see. It’s hard. He’s done so much for us this season. We’ll see.”
The Knicks have already proven they are capable of withstanding a loss of bodies.
When Robinson went down with a stress fracture on Dec. 8, Hartenstein stepped up and assumed the starting role.
When the Knicks traded Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett in the deal with the Toronto Raptors for Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa, DiVincenzo assumed a larger scoring role, and Miles “Deuce” McBride became a household name as three-point threat doubling as an irritant on the defensive end.
When Randle and Anunoby both left the rotation due to injury on Jan. 27, Hart and Achiuwa filled in at the three and four.
The Knicks then added depth with a mid-season trade, sending end-of-the-rotation players headlined by Quentin Grimes and Evan Fournier to the Detroit Pistons for Bogdanovic and Alec Burks.
The depth the Knicks hoped would carry them through the playoffs has evaporated.
Joel Embiid targeted Robinson and caused him to re-injure his surgically-repaired ankle in the first round against the Philadelphia 76ers. He was ruled out for the season after Game 1 against the Pacers and later underwent season-ending surgery.
Bogdanovic’s ankle also sustained a season-ending injury in the opening round of the playoffs, and after a season derailed by elbow surgery, Anunoby’s hamstring gave out after a 28-point performance in Game 2.
“This is sort of the nature of the playoffs. This is what you play for. You love competition. This is it,” Thibodeau said in defeat on Friday. “Hard-fought, competitive, oftentimes it comes down to a hustle play, a loose ball, whatever it might be, and so you’re gonna get tested physically, mentally, emotionally, and you’ve gotta be able to get through all that, and so whatever it is that we’re facing, we can overcome. Just keep battling.”
And still, the Knicks have put themselves in position to advance to the Eastern Conference for the first time in more than 20 years.
In fact, the Knicks haven’t hosted a Game 7 at The Garden since 1995.
Therein lies the irony for a battered Knicks team that must outlast a Pacers rotation stretching 9-to-10 players deep.
The Knicks lost to the Pacers at home in Game 7 of the second round of the 1995 playoffs.
And while each game of this series has been taken by the home team, history suggests this newly-reborn Knicks-Pacers rivalry always has room for a gut-wrenching left turn.
After all, Patrick Ewing’s blown finger roll brought a premature ending to a storybook season in front of his own home fans.
“It’s definitely something we fought for, to have home-court advantage for as long as we can throughout the playoffs,” said Brunson. “I’m just happy the team has the mindset we do. But it’s not given just because it’s at home. We have to go out there and play, and they’re going to be ready, and we’re going to be ready as well.”
