The Knicks are bringing hope and title dreams back to New York after years in the doldrums

Despite going 3-1 down in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Indiana Pacers, the New York Knicks are bringing hope and future title dreams back to the Big Apple.

Jesús Velázquez still has his old John Starks jersey at home. He remembers the New York Knicks going to the NBA Finals in 1994, Patrick Ewing’s infamous “finger roll” in 1995 and all the on-court fights with the Miami Heat. Last Friday night, Velázquez was one of hundreds of fans who waited in the rain to watch Game 2 against the Indiana Pacers in Central Park. Velázquez has fond memories of the good times in the ’90s but also remembers the bad, which defined the team for most of the last 25 years. As bad as those times were, they don’t compare to watching his team so close to the NBA Finals - even if they did lose on Tuesday night and are now a heartbeat away from elimination. “I never once put my paper bag on, but it came close,” Velázquez, 56, a long-suffering New York fan from Queens, told CNN Sports. As heartbreak and desperation faded to failure over an excruciating 25-year period, Knicks fans are now overwhelmed, knowing their team has a chance at winning a championship soon – even as they face a 3-1 series deficit to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals. The return to sustained relevancy –- something that seemed next-to-impossible for over two decades –- is new for younger fans who never saw the beloved 1990’s teams. Those teams never won, but coming close became good enough for their older counterparts who clung to the memories of “almost” winning and tightened their grip on nostalgia as the hopelessness increased. “It’s been a long drought. It’s been a heartbreaking drought because it’s not like we haven’t been close,” Velázquez said. “Last year, it was finally good to hear that song ‘Go NY Go’ because before it was not something you wanted to blast on your radio.”