Leon Rose must decide what Knicks really are in loaded East
NY Post
The Celtics earned banner No. 18 Monday night, finishing off a season in which they went a combined 80-21 in one of the great start-to-finish years you’ll ever see. They went 16-3 in the playoffs. They not only never faced a decisive game, they were never worse than tied 1-1 in any of those romps against the Heat, Cavaliers, Pacers and Mavericks.
That makes it seven titles for the Celtics since the Knicks won the second of their two championships in 1973. And there will be plenty of Knicks fans who will argue that, at the least, the Knicks would’ve given the Celtics a better run than any of the four teams Boston vanquished.
Maybe they would’ve.
Maybe not.
And that’s one of the problems the Knicks face as they now officially relaunch their quest to close the gap between themselves and the Celtics. Because it’s impossible to calculate with any kind of precision just how vast that chasm is.
More to the point, it’s difficult — very, very difficult — to shake from the consciousness the 27 days connecting Jan. 1 and Jan 27. Twenty-seven days in which the Knicks looked as good as any team in the NBA: 14 games played, 12 games won. Boston was 9-5 in that stretch. Dallas was 6-7. Oklahoma City was 10-4. Denver was 9-4. Minnesota was 8-7.
The Rangers hit the mark with their on-ice ceremony honoring Mika Zibanejad ahead of his 1,000th NHL game Monday night.
PORT ST. LUCIE — For now, Craig Kimbrel is choosing Mets purgatory.
‘Freak of nature: Zion Williamson’s resurgence could pose a Knicks problem versus motivated Pelicans
Zion Williamson is slimmer and healthier for his trip to MSG.
Don’t blame Mikal Bridges for his paltry stats. Blame the role.
Almost a year to the day after a goaltender interference call against Kyle Palmieri lost the Islanders a game against the Blue Jackets that started their season’s death spiral, they were on the wrong end of another controversial call against those same Blue Jackets that might have had the same effect.
On the Queens side of town, the reno began in earnest almost as soon as Francisco Lindor grounded into the 4-6-3 double play. That ended a 4-0 loss before a rare sizable crowd at Miami’s loanDepot Park last Sept. 27, all of them there to witness the final death rattles of an epic baseball calamity.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba is being paid handsomely for his breakout season.
Next comes the harder part. Mostly because it can’t get any easier.
It was Kids Day at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, but for the Rangers, it’s been All About The Kids for months.
PORT ST. LUCIE — From the moment he was told he needed surgery on his left hamate bone, Francisco Lindor fixated on the recovery time. Trainers provided the Mets shortstop a six-week pathway to return to play, and Lindor was determined to hit every marker.
Dylan Garand knew the number off the top of his head. He knew that, between the regular season and playoffs, he’d logged over 160 games with AHL Hartford, and he was right. Before the Rangers recalled him Friday, Garand had served as the Wolf Pack’s goaltender 165 times.
SAN DIEGO — As you may have seen elsewhere in this newspaper (and also if you haven’t deleted me yet from your social media), I have a book coming out Tuesday called “The Bosses of The Bronx.” Much of it details the 37 years’ worth of antics, winning, losing, winning again and overall mania of George Steinbrenner’s time with the Yankees.
Don’t close the curtain on “Mean” Joe Greene.