The title says it all. The final two minutes is where they separate the men from the boys, and unfortunately for the Knicks, they have some maturing to do. The Knicks had a lead in the final minute of each of the last two games, and have come away empty handed in Boston.
Many analysts believed that the Knicks had to win at least one game of the first two in order to upset Boston, and I agree with them. Winning 4 of the next 5 games against a powerhouse like Boston would be an incredible feat, but it is extremely unlikely that it would happen, especially with the uncertainty of stars Amare Stoudemire and Chauncey Billups.
In Game 1, the Knicks were simply wetting their playoff whistle. Having only half of a season together, this group of players is still trying to gel. Their finish to the season raised excitement in Knicks nation, and the fans thought they could take on the world. Well the two games in Boston gave them a dose of reality. The Knicks are on their way, but are not an elite team yet. Elite teams can get a defensive stop in the last minute and make big shots when the game is theirs for the taking. The Knicks were dominating game 1, even with Carmelo Anthony being in foul trouble for most of the first half. The Knicks led basically the whole way, by double digits for a time, but you always knew that the Celtics were going to make their run, which they did. Some questionable calls by the refs down the stretch definitely helped them out, but when your an elite team and your playing at home, your going to get those calls. Still the Knicks were in it and had poor execution in their final possession. First off, not having a timeout to advance the ball is poor management by coach D'Antoni. I know he used a lot of timeouts to try and stop the Celtics runs, but you have to leave yourself with a couple of timeouts when you know the game is going to close. After a couple of poor defensive possessions the Knicks were down 2 with about 15 seconds to go. So with no timeouts, and no play called, the Knicks put the ball into Melo's hand to win the game. If they had a timeout, maybe they would have called a play to get the ball to Stoudemire who was on fire, and who made two ridiculous plays in the final minutes to keep the Knicks in it. Now I don't have a problem with Melo taking the shot, I just wish it was a better shot and not a 29 foot 3 pointer. He missed, and the Knicks didn't even try to foul Garnett even though there was a couple of seconds left. It was an extremely heartbreaking loss for the Knicks and their fans.
In game 2 the tale of the first 46 minutes were a little different, but the final 2 ended up the same. The Knicks were struggling shooting the ball, had to battle to keep the game close. The Celtics led most of the way, with the Knicks chipping away every minute trying to come back and take the lead. The Knicks lost Amare to injury in the 2nd quarter, and he missed the entire second half. This was the second time in two games the Knicks had to play without one of their stars, this time without Amare and Billups, and they still managed to be right there in the end thanks to Carmelo Anthony's brilliant 42 point 17 rebounds performance. But again it came down to the final minutes, and again the Knicks struggled with execution and strategy.
After the Celtics took a :20 timeout with about 30 seconds remaining, coach D'Antoni took a :20 timeout right after the Celtics broke their huddle. I'm criticizing this because again at the end of the game the Knicks had no timeouts left to advance the ball.
They let Garnett score with some defensive pressure, and then after their last timeout they come with a play. Carmelo gets triple teamed and dishes it down low to Jared Jeffries who was wide open, and despite his offensive ineptitude, had scored a beautiful layup a minute earlier. Garnett comes over to Jeffries, and he tries a bounce pass to Bill Walker but Garnett's long arms grab the ball and as he is laying down he call timeout with about 4 seconds left. Down by 1, if the Knicks fouled quickly, they still would have had about 2 seconds to get off a good shot that could've won or at least tied the game, depending on if the Celtics made their free throws or not. But for some reason Anthony had no idea that Delonte West could go in the backcourt, which he did, and caught the ball and burned off 3.4 seconds and eventually go fouled with .6 remaining. You have to wonder if D'Antoni mentioned anything in the huddle if the Celtics could catch it in the backcourt, but even so, you should know that as a player. So West made both free throws, and the Knicks were left down by 3 with no timeouts, and had to heave a 3/4 court shot that came up well short. Another disappointing loss where the game was up in the air and the Knicks couldn't close the deal.
Just getting to the playoffs is a great accomplishment for the Knicks this season, and they seem to be heading in the right direction for the future, but after watching these two games, what fan couldn't ask for more from this team. They are going blow for blow with one of the best teams of recent years and they are lasting until the final seconds. Hopefully they can win a game or two at home and make this is a series, but if not, the Knicks fan who has been in pain for many years can now truly feel that the Knicks' time is almost here. It might not be this year, but with other teams getting older and most of the Knicks players being in their prime or younger, you can bet that the Knicks are back to being a perennial playoff team, and with a tweaking here or there, they could be a championship contender. The Knicks have been the laughing stock of the league for far too long. The regular season is the regular season, but with the last two tight, hard fought playoff games, the NBA better take notice that the Knicks have arrived and that these Knicks will be around for sometime.
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