If you’re a long-suffering Knicks fan, you understand the premise.
You understand the pain, frustration, thrill and angst you experience from rooting for the orange and blue for decades.
You remain bewildered by this team’s continued inability to guard the pick-and-roll that Indiana implements without resistance and guards so easily on defense.
You yell and curse at the television along with millions of other troubled fans who know what’s going to happen and are powerless to do anything about it.
If you’re a young Knicks fan who hasn’t fully suffered through decades of sadness, excitement, heartache, anger, joy and devastation, then Tuesday night’s Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals was your introduction to the club those of us of a certain age have already paid a lifetime membership to.
I have railed for years about coach Thibedeau being unable to teach the Knicks to guard the pick and roll and in this series, it’s not only evident that he continues to have no understanding of how to guard the play, but that the Pacers are using it almost every time down the floor because the Knicks are absolutely clueless on how to stop it.
Despite this failure, the Knicks, as they have during the entire 2024-25 playoffs, rallied to close the deficit and briefly take the lead.
They did this in the second quarter before relinquishing the short-term lease on the lead they had fought for thanks to miscommunication and timely threes from the Pacers.
Another issue for fans is the franchise’s habit of allowing struggling players to morph into All-Stars in crucial games.
In Game 4, that player was Bennedict Mathurin. Before Tuesday night, Mathurin had scored 11 points total in the series’s three games. So in the pivotal Game 4, New York, of course, let him explode for 20 points, including 10 points from the free throw line.
In a nine-point loss, Mathurin’s 20 points essentially gave the Pacers the win.
The Knicks also have a history of enabling a villain to emerge and flourish. From the Celtics in the 80s, to Michael Jordan, Tim Hardaway and of course, Reggie Miller, the Knicks always allow one player to carve out a special role as the “Knick killer”, one who snatches their heart in big games.
The new villain is All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton.
In Game 1, he flashed the Reggie Miller choke gesture after tying the game and sending it to overtime. In Game 4, he went off with a history-making triple-double (32 points, 10 rebounds, 15 assists) without committing a single turnover.
But even with his incredible night, the Knicks were in the game.
Until they weren’t.
Down the stretch, they missed key free throws and forgot how to rebound defensively.
Coach Thibs looked lost and outcoached, failing to call plays for Captain Clutch Jalen Brunson, who only took three shots in the 4Q.
And, once again, their pick-and-roll communication was horrendous, allowing former Knick Obi Tobin to hit a game-clinching three-pointer on a simple inbounds play with 46 seconds remaining that put the Pacers up by 10.
While they’re not done yet, with loyal fans still believing that they can win the next three games and advance to the Finals, this year’s Knicks are a manifestation of teams from the past.
Exciting at times but frustrating more often than not. Incredible heroics but devoid of consistency. Furious comebacks extinguished by poorly timed miscues.
This year the Knicks have what they haven’t in decades- two legitimate, All-NBA players in Jalen Brunson (2nd team All-NBA) and KAT (3rd team).
Brunson is the face of the team, but KAT has been inconsistent, in some cases because coach Thibs forgot that he was on the floor and neglected to call plays for him i.e. the first half of Game 3.
Due to a horrendous final three minutes in Game 1, the Knicks are one game away from elimination. That would allow their traditional archrivals to advance to the NBA Finals, something they haven’t done since 2000 when they also beat the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals.
While that would be a terrible disappointment for the team, it would be yet another devastating series loss where the Knicks gifted their fans yet another summer of frustration where small-town Indiana fans would be able to brag for a second-straight year that they beat New York.
And that might happen in New York again on Thursday night unless the team and coach Thibs finally learn how not to reproduce history.
In sports, there are many hard jobs, yet none are as agonizing and challenging as being a Knicks fan.
And while we continue to love the team, the pain of the past has resurfaced once again, which could lead to another summer of suffering for those of us who have already suffered for decades.
