“POWERED BY PATRICK” and “AN OAK GROWS IN MANHATTAN”
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786. NEW YORK KNICKS VS BOSTON CELTICS
EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS
GAME FOUR
MAY 4, 1990
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
QUALITY OF PLAY—6.75
DRAMA—6.73
STAR POWER—7.96
CONTEMPORARY IMPORT—7.55
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE—6.89
LOCAL IMPACT—8.01
TOTAL: 43.89
“POWERED BY PATRICK”
It all started so badly for the Knicks, and to no one’s surprise, so well for the Celtics. Their first round encounter in the 1990 NBA playoffs had gotten off to the expected (when these teams played) 2-0 Celts lead, as the Boston Garden continued to be a house of horrors for New York. Game Two was the nadir, a 157-128 Celts rout that saw Knicks star center Patrick Rwing embarrassed by Boston’s front line of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish and Reggie Lewis. Even Clyde Frazier on local Knicks radio broadcast accused Pat of quitting. It seemed that, as usual, the Knicks were going to roll over for their bullies to the north.
But the Knicks flipped the script in the critical Game Three, thanks to a commanding performance by Ewing. It was good not to get swept, but the true tell would be in how the Knicks played in Game Four, held on Friday night, May 4, 1990. That stupid “May The Fourth Be With You” saying wasn’t yet a thing, but the Knicks certainly played like possessed Jedi Knights on this evening.
This was the Stu Jackson Knicks, so they hadn’t yet fully embraced Pat Riley’s rough and tumble style as an identity, but in this game they assaulted Boston from jump, banging them around and playing suffocating defense. The Mighty Celts were turned into a “fumbling green lump,” as Fred Kerber put it in the Daily News. “Defense comes with intensity,” said point guard Mo Cheeks, “ and we never let up.”
It was nevertheless fairly close for three quarters. Ewing was incredible from the tip, hitting his first 8 shots en route to a 20-point first quarter. “The Man can play,” understated Kenny Walker. “Oh he is…on fire!” yelled Marv Albert on the TNT telecast.
But unlike other occasions when Ewing would score plenty but the rest of the gang stood around and watched, on this night the ball moved around like the old days at MSG. The Knicks had 42 assists, led by Cheeks with 12, and that led to a ton of easy hoops. They shot 59% in what was undoubtedly their best offensive performance of the season, at the best time for it. The flowing play past half court stood in contrast to the street gang style they were playing on the defensive end.
Boston still hung in, despite Bird shooting just 6-15. Midway through the third quarter it was 72-65 after Dennis Johnson canned a jumper. But New York responded with a 13-2 run that saw Boston miss four shots and commit three turnovers. The fourth quarter was “extended gar-baaage time,” as Marv would say. Boston was shooting 59% over the first three games, but on this night, they couldn’t get untracked.
The game was over when Ewing left the court, still with 4:09 left. He raised his arms in victory, the crowd went nuts, and the PA blasted Aretha’s “R-E-S-P-E-C-T.” Would this display of dominance earn them a bit of respect? A little, but more was forthcoming…
The final was 135-108, an unthinkable embarrassment for the proud guys in green. Ewing finished with 44 points and 13 rebounds and silenced Parish in an awesome performance, one that silenced his critics from Game Two. Newman scored 24 points off the bench, Wilkins added 20, Cheeks 12 assists. Bird, McHale and Lewis all topped 20 points but it was for naught. The series was headed back to Beantown for the deciding contest.
AFTERMATH:
As every true Knick fan knows, the good guys shocked Boston in the decisive Game Five, thanks to a huge three-pointer near the end by Ewing, overcoming an 0-2 deficit to do so. It was the turning point in the rivalry as New York took over b-ball along the Post Road for the decade of the 90s.
WHAT THEY SAID:
“Everybody, everybody was outstanding. The whole team just stepped it up to a new level, a level we hadn’t been to.”
—Patrick Ewing
FURTHER READING:
“Oh, Those Cheeky Knicks” by Alexander Wolff, Sports Illustrated
VIDEO:
785. NEW YORK KNICKS VS CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS
GAME ONE
APRIL 27, 1995
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
QUALITY OF PLAY—6.97
DRAMA—6.75
STAR POWER—7.57
CONTEMPORARY IMPORT—7.45
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE—6.81
LOCAL IMPACT—8.35
TOTAL: 43.90
“AN OAK GROWS IN MANHATTAN”
The 1994-95 Knicks were expected to do wonderful things. After the bitter disappointment of the year before, when they lost in Game Seven of the Finals to Houston, it was felt New York should at last get it done and win their first NBA title since 1973. Bete noire Michael Jordan was still shagging flies for the White Sox, Patrick Ewing and Pat Riley were still running the show at MSG—the time was nigh.
But NY didn’t play well for most of the regular season, and in March, the City pulled a collective gag reflex when Jordan announced his return to basketball. Meanwhile, a new power emerged in Orlando, led by young stars Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway. The Knicks pulled themselves together late in the year and earned the three seed, but just how far they were destined to go in the playoffs was an open question.
They answered said question, at least in part, with a rousing display in the very first postseason game, held in the Garden on Thursday night, April 27, 1995. The opponent was Cleveland, the sixth seed, coached by one-time Knicks assistant and renowned broadcaster Mike Fratello. The Cavs were a once-strong team now in flux, still led by point guard Mark Price but featuring talented but less-than-focused players like Tyrone Hill, John “Hot Rod” Williams, and the late Bobby Phills. They were also gutted by injuries to star center Brad Daugherty and former Knick Gerald Wilkens, both of whom missed the season.
No one in the state of Ohio had an answer for Charles Oakley in Game One. The Oak Tree bullied Cleveland all night, shoving Hill and Michael Cage to the floor on numerous occasions, plowing in for easy buckets, and controlling the game in the paint and off the backboards. He scored 19 points on 9-12 shooting, garnered 11 rebounds, and pushed Hill, an All-Star big man, right into Fratello’s doghouse. Hill shot just 2-10 and was benched in the third quarter. “He’s the coach,” said Hill of Fratello. “That’s why they call him the czar or whatever of the telestrator.”
“Charles was a mini-twister all over the court,” said Riley.
The Knicks record for fewest points allowed in a playoff game was 75, grudgingly surrendered in 1992 to Detroit. For a long while, the record was in jeopardy. Cleveland worked incredibly hard just to get to 79 and eke past the mark. The Knicks had runs of 15-0 and 14-0 in the 103-79 flogging. In addition to Oak, Ewing popped in 21, with Derek Harper adding 16 more. Patrick’s backwards, two-handed slam off an alley-top from Oakley was the defining bucket of the rout.
It was a heck of a start to what promised to be a memorable postseason in New York.
AFTERMATH:
The Knicks took care of the outmanned Cavs in four, but the next series against Indiana was a nightmare, as the Knicks lost in seven to Reggie Miller and his disgusting face.
WHAT THEY SAID:
“They gave us a good ol’ beatin’”
—Mike Fratello, Cleveland head coach
FURTHER READING:
Blood In The Garden by Chris Herring
VIDEO: