New York Knicks finally clinch a playoff berth since 2004 – NBA update
The play-off drought that had engulfed New York City for seven agonizing years finally ended on Sunday night when the New York Knicks thrashed the Cleveland Cavaliers 123-107 at Madison Square Garden. The last time the Knicks managed to achieve this feat
was at the end of the 2003-2004 regular season, when Stephon Marbury was running the show. Since then, the team has been on the skids, struggling to make a place in the playoffs for six seasons.
Amare Stoudemire, the power forward who has been at the helm of the Knicks affairs this season and has been a key cog behind their resurgence as the Eastern Conference’s elite said after the game, "This is exactly where I expected to be…in the playoffs.
This was the goal when I signed here. I sat down with Mr. Dolan (Knicks owner) and said this is our plan. The plan has come into full motion and now it is time to take the momentum into the playoffs."
New York are the seventh team in the Eastern Conference to cement their way into the next round and more importantly, their advance came after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had been hounding the Knicks for a very long time.
Before Sunday’s game, the Cavaliers had knocked down the Knicks in the last 11 meetings between the two franchises. Despite having their worst run after LeBron James departure this season, the Cavs still managed to outshine them until the Knicks finally
figured them out on Sunday night. The two offensive powers, Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony, combined for 53 points to end their losing streak against Cleveland in style.
Chauncey Billups, who joined the Knicks after a 13-player, 3 franchise mega trade in Late February said, "We knew that this was a game that we needed to get. This team had dominated us the whole season, which team is actually playing a lot better than their
record looks like and this is probably the one team that can come in and say that they can beat, because three times they beat us before."
The superstar trio of Anthony, Stoudemire and Billups led the team after the All-Star break. The team had some dithering moments and they even fell under .500. However the important thing is that they managed to sustain their spot in the top eight and are
back on the 50 percent mark with 38 victories and 38 defeats.
Another important aspect of the game was the superstar Anthony’s drive to become the first Knicks’ player to land 35 points in four successive games since Bernard King in 1984. After scoring 36, 39, 39 in the last three outings, Anthony was gunning for the
record. However, he shot only 8-of-18 from the field, thus managing only 25 points on Sunday. Anthony is playing exceptionally well under his new team and is fast becoming the corner stone of the franchise in his first year as a Knick.
New York Knicks will be concluding the regular season by playing against the two top teams of the East, Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics. The platform is all set for the line-up to overlook the past and break into the playoffs with a strong message.
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