The Knicks Finally Won A Playoff Game

May 6th, 2012

The last time the Knicks won a game in the postseason, I was still a Junior in High School, and followed the Knicks!

The Knicks had last outscored a playoff opponent  —  the Toronto Raptors  —  on April 29, 2001. They had lost 13 straight until the Heat, leading the Eastern Conference series 3-0, contributed 11 missed free throws and 41 percent shooting to a philanthropic cause known as the long-suffering Knicks fan.

Think about it: that last Knicks playoff victory came before 9/11, before the start of the war in Afghanistan. The drought easily exceeded America’s other marathon military action in Iraq. It consumed the better part of three presidential terms. It preceded Apple’s unveiling of the iPod in October 2001 and extended beyond the invention of the iPad.

The Los Angeles Lakers won four championships between Knicks playoff victories and the San Antonio Spurs claimed three. The New England Patriots’ three-title dynasty in the N.F.L. happened and Eli Manning arrived in New Jersey in 2004 and won two titles for the Giants. Alex Rodriguez began a three-year run with the Texas Rangers the same month of the Knicks’ previous playoff triumph and has since played what feels like a lifetime  —  this being his ninth season  —  with the Yankees.

I remember that series against Toronto. Wow, time sure does fly.