After the Knicks blew a 14-point lead with just under three minutes left to play last night against the Indiana Pacers, I had a fairly normal response. I walked around the city like a zombie, shrugging my shoulders every so often. I stewed in dejected silence at home, a passing grimace contorting my face involuntarily every few minutes. At 4 a.m., I had a vision of a ball bouncing high off the back of the rim and then miraculously through the net. This was, I recalled, exactly how it felt all that time ago.
But while the Knicks have lost home-court advantage, I consoled myself with the reminder that they're still in fairly decent shape to make their first NBA Finals since 1999.
In perhaps perverse timing, pre-sale tickets for that possible Knicks Finals appearance went on sale on Thursday morning for "verified fans," like yours truly.