Once the final 1.2 seconds ebbed off the clock inside Madison Square Garden, allowing the New York Knicks to escape Game 4, the celebratory roar reverberated through the arena and across the city, the report said. OG Anunoby’s game-winning tip-in did not seal the title, but it capped what became the largest comeback in NBA Finals history and helped spark a championship run that was finished three days later roughly 1,500 miles away in Game 5, the story said.
For 53 years the Knicks had chased the heights reached by the 1970 and 1973 championship teams, the report said. Those earlier clubs, anchored by Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere and Willis Reed, were built on togetherness, ball movement and synergy and long stood as a model for how basketball should be played.
The franchise endured numerous near misses and painful moments in the decades that followed, the story said. The list included Charles Smith’s botched layups in the 1993 conference finals, John Starks’ 2-for-18 performance in Game 7 of the 1994 NBA Finals, Reggie Miller’s eight points in nine seconds and Patrick Ewing’s missed finger roll in the 1995 East semifinals, the suspensions that affected the 1997 East semifinals against Miami, and a five-game loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the 1999 Finals after a surprising run as an 8-seed.
New York’s sports history, the report noted, has featured memorable champions across other leagues. The Giants have won four Super Bowls, including dramatic victories over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV and two title wins over New England that featured David Tyree’s helmet catch in Super Bowl XLII and a decisive victory over Tom Brady and Bill Belichick four years later. The Mets’ 1986 World Series included the defining moment of Bill Buckner’s error in Game 6; the Yankees collected multiple championships with Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera; the Islanders won four straight Stanley Cups in the early 1980s; the Rangers ended a 54-year drought in 1994; and the Liberty claimed the 2024 WNBA title over the Minnesota Lynx, the story said.
While New York’s loyalties are split among several franchises, the report concluded that the city has long been a Knicks town — a reality underscored by the franchise finally reaching the summit after decades of disappointment.
