You’re allowed to enjoy re-energized Knicks even if there is more roster work to do
NY Post
It’s OK to sit back and enjoy what you’re seeing right now, you know. It’s all right to do what no less an authority than Pat Riley has done for years, urging his players to live in “the precious present,” a term he borrowed from author Spencer Johnson, a phrase that really should be the sacred mantra of Knicks fans right now.
Tomorrow is for tomorrow. May and June are for May and June. The fact that the Knicks are still a little short when you line them up against the beasts of the East is still real life, no matter how glorious they looked across wide swatches of Tuesday night’s 112-84 evisceration of the Blazers before 19,812 occasionally delirious fans at Madison Square Garden. But for now, it’s OK to forget that.
“We were really connected,” said OG Anunoby, who had the Garden chanting his name during a remarkable 29-minute shift in which he scored 23 points, including 4 out of 6 from deep. “Flying around, getting stops, looking out for one another.”
They were. That’s five-for-five now since Leon Rose acquired Anunoby as the centerpiece of a deal that sent RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to Toronto, and the effect has been an eerily similar vibe to the 9-0 stretch the Knicks went on last year when they acquired Josh Hart from Portland.
The ball is moving. The feet are moving. They are now 15-1 against teams with losing records on the season, and the Blazers are a confirmed member of the NBA dregs right now. But two of those five wins since the trade have come against Minnesota and Philadelphia, who have a combined record of 49-22.
It’s all very heady stuff.