Veteran sports fans who follow multiple professional or even college sports teams have to appreciate what the Knicks are doing this season. You won’t necessarily see it again – it’s just the nature of team sports and how people play the game. For example, the Yankees showed so little passion and fire in 2023 that SU finally stopped watching games the last 2 months of the season. Unheard of. It took so much disinterest from players not hustling, not running hard to 1st base and mindlessly hitting balls into the defense to get me to that point. Actually never happened before for me.

The Knicks this year just play hard every minute, every game. They don’t hang their heads when there are injuries or they’re not shooting well for stretches of the game. The defensive effort is still there. Sure, it’s coaching and Thibodeau has done a masterful job with these players. But it’s really about the players and collectively caring about one another and playing the game the right way all the time. You watch Josh Hart get close to 20 rebounds in a game – amazing for a guard.

Last night, Brunson was basically playing on one leg and just had no lift on his shots. Most of his misses were short. But he was out there playing major minutes and they came close down the stretch. They are just so undersized now with Robinson and OG Anunoby both out, and not being able to get defensive rebounds down the stretch did them in. It’s unclear if Anunoby can even come back this series as hamstring injuries tend to linger.

For SU, I will enjoy the passion and the effort from this team as it feels like it’s just so rare these days. SU refuses to be pissed off by the refs who have a tough job in the NBA. The pace of play is so fast and the players are so athletic. I will say that the challenge system is basically annoying. If you want to review plays in the last 2 minutes, that’s fine but during the flow of the game, just move on. The calls will even out in the end. Pace of play matters and some of the overturns on foul calls are just ridiculous. The one on Brunson last night where he was fouled twice at mid-court (not called) and then maybe lost the ball out of bounds where the defender had his elbow in his side. The Pacers’ guards are basically saying we will play you physically and dare the refs to call fouls on every possession. Of course, they won’t and then you set the tone for the game. Brunson takes his share of bumps, grabs and holds – no doubt. Unclear to SU why that is allowed.

Sooooo, enjoy the rest of this series and what will be will be. DiVincenzo took a big hit on his back, and he was not the same down the stretch. With game 4 on Sunday afternoon, we will have to see how mobile he is. The Knicks may want to consider a “load maintenance” game and rest several guys Sunday. I am sure they will not but when you play 7 players, you really need them to be close to top form.