New York Pro Basketball Turned Out To Be A Dud With The Knicks And Nets

On November 30, the Knicks and Nets entered their first meeting with a combined record of 25-15. It was the kind of record that made the idea of both teams reaching the playoffs and possibly doing something of note a possibility.

Instead, the NBA season in New York came to a crashing end Monday when the Nets were bounced out of the postseason with a four-game sweep against the extremely physical Boston Celtics – the kind of team that resembled the grit the Knicks showed in getting to the fourth seed in 2020-21 – but with better talent.

While the season was interesting, it turned out to be a dud. It became a disappointment for a team pegged as championship contenders to get eliminated in four and not even get the courtesy of a “gentleman’s sweep”. Even if the series was decided by a combined 18 points, the gulf between the Nets and Celtics seemed significantly wider, especially when the Nets did not hold a lead for the final 87 minutes, 58 seconds of the series and Kevin Durant only had one good game, a 39-point showing Monday that still featured a pair of missed 3-pointers in the final minute when the Nets attempted a comeback that fell short.

“I’ll miss going to the gym, miss the routine, getting ready for games. What we do, we have the best jobs in the world doing your passion for a living. When it ends like that, you start thinking about the whole year,” Durant said. “Give credit to the Celtics first off. They’re an incredible team. They have a chance to do some big things the rest of the playoffs. They played amazing.”

It seemed like an appropriate ending for a team that seemed to be running on fumes at times, mostly because a majority of the season was about who was not available for different reasons. The season was in peril because of Kyrie Irving’s no-time then part-time status which evolved in James Harden growing frustrated and essentially asking to leave Brooklyn. It became more precarious when the Nets endured an 11-game skid during a portion of Durant’s recovery from a sprained MCL in his right knee.

And then when they needed to make up ground, they asked Durant to play heavy minutes again, something he was already doing when the Nets were without Irving. Durant wound up playing 40 minutes or more 11 times after returning and while it might not have been the main reason, it’s hard not to think it’s a factor, especially when Steve Nash concedes his players might have run out of gas which he did Monday night.

Eventually Durant returned and the Nets played well enough at times to get to this point, but even if they snuck past the Celtics, was it realistic to expect a title at this point even though they began the marathon as among the favorites?

At least they can say they weathered the various things and reached this point. Their counterparts in the New York NBA scene followed up their most captivating season since winning 54 times in 2012-13 with a 37-win dud that left many wondering if the thrilling end to coach Tom Thibodeau’s first season was an example of an overachieving group?

In Thibodeau’s first season, Julius Randle became a fan favorite for setting career highs and his flameout in the playoffs seemingly could be forgiven. The Knicks did not buy into the regression in the postseason and signed him to a max deal but ultimately it was a turbulent and frustrating season for Randle, who on Jan. 7 against the Celtics gave the fans thumbs down similar to what Javy Baez and Francisco Lindor did last August to fans watching the Mets play the Nationals.

Randle’s gesture was two-plus months after their thrilling overtime win over the Celtics, the one that spawned the “Bing Bong guy” and the delirious set of Knick fans outside the building. About a month after Randle’s gesture — which actually occurred in a game the Knicks stormed back from 24 points down and won on an RJ Barrett buzzer-beater — the Knicks lost 11 of 12 with an array of blown double-digit leads and any play-in aspirations gradually faded away.

The days of the exciting possibility of the two teams meeting in the postseason seem like ages ago and perhaps a reflection of the marathon that veered off course for both teams.

It still seems the Nets could get their championship in this era, but it also is a league becoming younger and a lot more competitive. It is especially true in the Eastern Conference where the top six teams won between 46 and 53 games and the Nets went 9-14 against.

In the meantime, the Nets are left with the wreckage of what could have been. The scary hours never developed and now their summer is way longer than they anticipated when they convened in late-September, some three months after Durant’s foot was on the line in the epic Game 7 against Milwaukee.

Perhaps the Nets will use it as motivation to get enough games together so the cohesion the Celtics showed for virtually the entire four-game series comes to their side. Perhaps that cohesion will include Ben Simmons, whose saga with his back and his availability seemed to overshadow the buildup to Game 4.

“It’s burning in my heart right now I know so many people wanted to see us fail at this juncture, pick us as contenders, and have so much to say at this point. I’m just using that as fuel for the summer,” Irving said