They are going to build leads and lose them. They are probably going to get outrebounded, likely go into momentary funks and almost definitely find themselves a handful of points up or down when stretch time approaches.
So go the Knicks, who in textbook fashion, for them, did what was required in gaining a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five first-round playoff series against Toronto with Sunday’s typically uneven, predictably successful 92-88 victory.
Agonize if you will, but this is the way it has been, dating all the way back to when Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady were in grammar school, and there’s no sign of change. There is much the Knicks understand they need to fine-tune in time for tomorrow night’s Game 2 at the Garden, realizing they cannot merely duplicate their opening-game performance and expect to make quick work of the Raptors.
The Knicks cannot get beaten on the boards by 13 every game. They cannot lean on one masterful quarter to set a tone, just as they cannot anticipate Toronto coming out as scared stiff as it did in falling into a 19-point hole in the first 11 minutes. And, most ominously, the Knicks are fully aware that even with sterling defense by Latrell Sprewell and repeated double- or even triple-teams, Carter is not going to again shoot 3 of 20 any time soon in this series.
Consider what they accomplished an imperfect way to secure a perfect series lead.
“We are who we are,” Jeff Van Gundy said “At times we play a little bit better when it’s closer throughout. We didn’t do a great job sustaining our energy throughout that game, but we built up a big enough lead and we did enough good things down the stretch to be able to get the win.”
This is what you get when the NBA ridiculously stretches out a playoff series, creating unnatural gaps that coaches must fill with extra practice, extra film work, extra scrutiny. For two full days, the Knicks get to consider how fortunate they are to have taken the series lead, even though for the final three quarters, it seemed as if they were hanging on for dear life, fearing that Carter would find the range just in time. No doubt, with the game tied at 85, the Knicks in the final minute looked to be the more experienced, more poised team, but with a few tweaks here and there, the Raptors have every reason to believe they can gain a split before taking the series back to Toronto.
“We know we have to play better,” said Marcus Camby, who looked rusty in his 24 minutes, returning from a late-season knee injury. “From our standards we didn’t play a particularly good ballgame. We had an excellent first quarter but the last three quarters weren’t Knicks-type basketball. In our previous ballgames [against the Raptors], we were getting blown out in the first quarter. Fortunately we were able to get that lead and luckily hold on to pull it out.”
Pulling out tension-filled home games in the first round is not a comforting way to ensure a lengthy post-season run, but it is business as usual with the Knicks. In contrast to their dismal showings in losing three regular-season games to the Raptors, this represented a significant step forward. It remains to be seen if Toronto can make a similar leap.
Van Gundy – pointing out the fact that of his club’s 50 wins this season, exactly half of them were by seven or fewer points – reasoned that no matter if they start fast or finish slow, the Knicks are somehow, some way, going to engage in close games. “That’s who we are,” he said. “We’re not a blowout team, we rarely get blown out, Toronto being the exception. I do believe the first quarter we played great, great basketball. After that they sort of controlled the game. They played better than we did in the last three quarters. We did enough good things in the last three minutes to win.”
After watching his star endure the worst shooting performance of his young career, Toronto coach Butch Carter said Van Gundy’s defensive maneuvering, sending a big defender at Vince Carter, and then forcing him to go right, surprised him. That came as a surprise to Van Gundy, who maintains the Knicks pulled no new gameplan out of their sleeves to defend Carter, who torched the Knicks for a 33-point average in the Raptors’ 3-1 regular-season blitz.
“He was probably caught off guard that we played ANY defense, after watching us play four times against him this year,” Van Gundy said. “Believe me, we didn’t do anything special. We played better defense, played harder defense and that guy missed some shots he normally makes.”
All this analysis is not for everybody. When asked yesterday about nearly blowing a 19-point lead, Patrick Ewing shrugged off any significance. “They’re a good team, they’re in the playoffs,” he said. “They made their run, we withstood it, that’s it.”
That is it, for the opener. But Carter comes back again tomorrow night, and the Knicks know he won’t shoot any worse.
“He said some things, that it’s his first playoff game, maybe he was overhyped,” said Larry Johnson. “Vince is a helluva player. You got two seasons in the NBA, the regular season and the playoffs, and they are like night and day. He’ll settle down.”
