We’ve heard the arguments against the Knicks enough to turn them into catechism.
They took a 47-win conference semifinalist and merely gave it a fifty-cent remix, plus a Donte DiVincenzo and minus an Obi Toppin.
They were 5-11 against teams that have winning records, and many of the 11 weren’t particularly close.
They don’t have a top-10 player, an inner-circle superstar.
“You gotta have a dude, you gotta have a 1A dude, and they’re missing that at the end of the day,” said Becky Hammon, dismissing Jalen Brunson as “too small.”
As of last week, they don’t have a starting center.
Yup, and mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap, had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.
When out on the Garden hardwood there arose … the best game of this Knicks season, a dashing, prancing, blitz-’em 129-122 Christmas matinee victory over a full-strength Bucks team.
And dancing in our heads, like so many visions of sugar plums, whatever those are, was this notion: If the Knicks (17-12) are going to be more than some true contender’s second-round punching bag, that’s exactly what it looks like.
It’s Brunson fully in his bag of gifts, delivering a 38-point masterclass worthy of its place in the franchise record book alongside Bernard King (60 on Christmas Day 1984; sitting Monday, like 50 Cent, in the front row) and Richie Guerin (40 in 1961; who, mind you, had a couple of inches on Brunson).
And a fitting rejoinder to his critics in front of a national audience (by the way, would Hammon’s opinion as a Hall of Famer be so gleefully rebutted if she were a man? Or even more so? We digress!). Every month, it seems, there are fewer NBA players you’d rather have on your side than Brunson.
It’s Julius Randle bullying his way to 24 points, as the Knicks compiled a 72-50 advantage in points in the paint.
It’s RJ Barrett getting downhill for an efficient 21, doing a reasonable impression of a third scoring option.
It’s Immanuel Quickley as the microwave scorer (20 points in 22 minutes), Josh Hart (10 and 9) as the jolt of energy when the momentum began to flag in the second half, DiVincenzo playing 94 feet, Quentin Grimes pump-faking the 3 and getting all the way to the hoop.
It’s Isaiah Hartenstein (11 and 8) not giving an inch in Mitchell Robinson’s absence and Taj Gibson getting three “blocks” on Giannis Antetokounmpo to help the Knicks actually outscore the Bucks in his 15 minutes. Good players, all the way down.
It’s the Tom Thibodeau imprint — tough and prepared. “If you’re a Knicks fan, you came to this game or watching on TV,” as the timeless Hubie Brown put it on the ESPN broadcast, “you’re happy because of the physical effort.”
Now, the trick is doing it four times out of seven. Or 16 times, to get ticker tape tossed onto Lower Broadway.
But think about the much-discussed series against the Bucks, two in Milwaukee followed by two in the past three days in New York, like this: The Knicks are down 3-1.
They’re approximately one stop late in Game 1 — the Knicks led, 103-101, with 1:10 remaining, despite Randle being in the grips of his early-season struggles on that night of Nov. 3 — from it being 2-2.
For every game the Bucks shoot the lights out, there easily can be a game they shoot 31 percent from 3.
The NBA appears to have some really nice teams this season, no true Goliath. The Knicks rank 10th in net rating, at +2.9 points per 100 possessions.
They again battle out of a 4-5 series against the Cavaliers or Heat or Magic (sure). Then they take their chances against two out of three of the Celtics and 76ers and Bucks, employing the same merry formula they used on Monday, no fluke about it — before playing for the first-in-51-year marbles against the Nuggets or Timberwolves or Thunder. Bring that on.
Is that path marginally more plausible with — insert your Trade Machine Mad Lib here — let’s say O.G. Anunoby and Andre Drummond? Yes. Still, are the odds strongly against it going down like that? Naturally yes.
But don’t say it can’t happen. As Christmas morning gave way to Christmas afternoon and the long sleigh ride that is the rest of this basketball season, we saw how it could.
Today’s back page
Passing pine-sano
In the town infamous for pelting Santa with snowballs, the winter cheer of DeVito Mania melted away on a Christmas night.
Tommy DeVito was benched for Tyrod Taylor at halftime of the Giants’ eventual 33-28 defeat versus the Eagles, completing the circle on New York’s cutlets-infused quarterback fairy tale and returning to the regularly scheduled programming: losing in Philadelphia.
In nearly two months — or was it 15 minutes? did it just feel like a lifetime? — the Jersey-born, undrafted DeVito rose from the practice squad to not-allowed-to-throw injury sub to two ho-hum losses as a starter to a magical three-game winning streak replete with an array of Post back pages and viral moments.
Then it was back to reality with a one-sided loss to the Saints, a jump-the-shark pizzeria controversy and finally the cold math of a 9-of-16, 55-yard first half against the Eagles that left the Giants with a 20-3 deficit at the break.
“Just trying to spark the team” was all the explanation Giants head coach Brian Daboll offered after the game for the switch.
Thing is, Taylor (7-of-16, 111 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) was ready to play two weeks ago. If he gave the Giants a better chance than DeVito to win after half a game on Monday, wasn’t the same true then?
Or did the organization want to squeeze every drop of vodka sauce out of the DeVito phenomenon, on the field and off? Did they want more time to evaluate DeVito for a potential 2024 role but less time than the whole rest of a lost season?
Here are the stats for the Giants’ three quarterbacks — with Sunday’s game against the Rams and Week 18 return date against the Eagles remaining:
DeVito: 1,087 passing yards, 6.2 yards per attempt, 63.6 completion pct., 8 TDs, 3 INTs, 36 sacks, 88.9 QB rating, 3-3 as starter
Daniel Jones: 909 passing yards, 5.7 yards per attempt, 67.5 completion pct., 2 TDs, 6 INTs, 30 sacks, 70.6 QB rating, 1-5 as starter
Taylor: 725 passing yards, 6.8 yards per attempt, 61.7 completion pct., 3 TDs, 1 INT, 10 sacks, 87.2 QB rating, 1-2 as starter
The NFL playoff picture
The most prolonged NFL slate — a Thursday night game, two Saturday games, the usual 10-hour, 10-game Sunday buffet and a Monday tripleheader — in recent memory is finally complete.
And the playoff picture is coming into focus.
With the quarterback carnage continuing virtually unabated and a sad-off happening in both South divisions, here is where things stand going Weeks 17 and 18 (* indicates clinched playoff berth, probabilities via The Upshot):
AFC
1. Ravens* (12-3) — 97 percent to win AFC North, 74 percent to clinch bye
Did Lamar Jackson move back to the front of the MVP race on Monday night?
2. Dolphins* (11-4) — 78 percent to win AFC East, 25 percent to clinch bye
Clinched a playoff berth with a last-second field goal to beat the Cowboys.
3. Chiefs (9-6) — 98 percent to make playoffs, 97 percent to win AFC West
The vibes are abysmal. Patrick Mahomes is pouting and … not playing that well? Taylor Swift’s boyfriend is throwing helmets now. Too bad this probably ends with them winning the Super Bowl again.
4. Jaguars (8-7) — 73 percent to make playoffs, 59 percent to win AFC South
Trevor Lawrence has a new injury every week, and just buried Doug Pederson.
5. Browns (10-5) — 99+ percent to make playoffs, 3 percent to win AFC North, 1 percent to clinch bye
To think: All the Jets had to do after Week 1 was call Joe Flacco.
6. Bills (9-6) — 90 percent to make playoffs, 22 percent to win AFC East
Sean McDermott’s team has won three in a row. Wonder if he’s got any good comebacks to cite for inspiration.
7. Colts (8-7) — 55 percent to make playoffs, 26 percent to win AFC South
8. Texans (8-7) — 33 percent to make playoffs, 15 percent to win AFC South
The return of C.J. Stroud could be huge. Case Keenum and Davis Mills didn’t have the answer this week in a loss to the Browns.
9. Steelers (8-7) — 14 percent to make playoffs
10. Bengals (8-7) — 17 percent to make playoffs
11. Raiders (7-8) — 14 percent to make playoffs, 1 percent to win AFC West
Let it out, Antonio Pierce.
12. Broncos (7-8) — 6 percent to make playoffs, 2 percent to win AFC West
NFC
1. 49ers* (11-4) — 79 percent to clinch bye
Oddly, Monday’s primetime loss to the Ravens with Brock Purdy throwing four picks — if that was a Super Bowl preview, it previewed a bunch of garbage time — didn’t change their playoff math very much.
2. Eagles* (11-4) — 83 percent to win NFC East, 15 percent to clinch bye
Didn’t inspire a ton of confidence in the second half against the Giants. There was the tackle-your-teammate kickoff return fumble, a Jalen Hurts pick-six and a defensive breakdown on a deep ball to Darius Slayton.
3. Lions* (11-4) — 6 percent to clinch bye
First division title since 1993.
4. Buccaneers (8-7) — 84 percent to reach playoffs, 84 percent to win NFC South
If that number seems high, Baker Mayfield and Co. close with the Saints at home and at two-win Carolina.
5. Cowboys* (10-5) — 17 percent to win NFC East
Ah, it’s that magical time of year when Mike McCarthy spectacularly underwhelms.
6. Rams (8-7) — 67 percent to make playoffs
In great shape with a win against the Giants at the Meadowlands.
7. Seahawks (8-7) — 69 percent to make playoffs
8. Vikings (7-8) — 27 percent to make playoffs
9. Falcons (7-8) — 12 percent to make playoffs, 8 percent to win NFC South
10. Packers (7-8) — 28 percent to make playoffs
11. Saints (7-8) — 12 percent to make playoffs, 9 percent to win NFC South
What we’re reading 👀
🏈 Robert Saleh said the Jets wouldn’t tank their final two games for better draft position. The 6-9 Jets currently sit at No. 9, per Tankathon.
🏒 We break down the NHL-best Rangers at the holiday break.
🏒 And a recap of how the Islanders got to this point in second place in the Metro.
🏀 Before the Nets try to hand the Pistons their 27th straight loss, Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson spoke with empathy about their former Suns coach Monty Williams, now in charge in Detroit.
🏀 Steve Kerr went off on NBA referees after the Warriors’ Christmas loss to Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets.
🏀 Luka Doncic just plain went off.
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