Anyone in Germany who woke up at around 3.45 a.m. local time and wondered what in the world this deafening noise was: No, no earthquake, no jackhammer at the neighbor’s, the gate to hell hadn’t opened either. Julius Randle had put the New York Knickerbockers in the lead after an intoxicating race to catch up, and 16,254 people in Madison Square Garden did what New Yorkers do when intoxicated: they roared their souls, drummed, stomped, tipped Beer on top of each other. Lakers player LeBron James tweeted from Los Angeles that he had also heard the noise on the west coast: “Man, that’s loud as hell in the MSG! The place rocks!”
It could even be heard at the North Pole, and it lasted until half past four German time; then the Knicks had defeated the Atlanta Hawks with 101: 92 and equalized the best-of-seven series of the first play-of-round.
The North American professional league NBA is more interesting, they say in the US, when the Knicks are good, and what exactly that means was seen in those first two games – the legendary franchise’s first playoff games in eight years – against the Hawks , especially after the sadness of the Corona: Director Spike Lee (orange bucket hat, Buddhist prayer beads in Knicks colors, towel for waving) hopped up and down on the sidelines and insulted all the Hawks’ players even before the game. That was already a topic after the first game, Atlanta won in the last second thanks to a wonderful action by the 22-year-old playmaker Trae Young: The fans in the Garden had reviled and laughed at Young for his curly hair, otherwise they kept shouting for more than 16,000 throats hardened by New York traffic: “Fuck Trae Young!”
Madison Square Garden has been one of the quietest arenas in the past few years
That’s the way they are, the New Yorkers, and if you tell them to behave yourself, they’ll roar even louder the next time they play. Tennis player Daniil Medvedev found out about this at the 2018 US Open, but after two games full of abuse, something amazing happened: The New Yorkers took him to their hearts because he accepted the roar, played even harder and in the final against Rafael Nadal, like they did in the Big Apple say, grindete – So did what New Yorkers do every day: toil to somehow survive in this city, and that leads to the Knicks in 2021.
You can lose in New York, albeit very, very badly; what they don’t like at all in this city: when athletes relax, so don’t give it your all. Then people show the opposite of love – not hate and insults, these are expressions of respect, and you have to earn them, but: indifference and silence. The Garden has been one of the quietest arenas in the past few years, and Julius Randle in particular could be happy that no spectators were allowed from March 11th last season; the silence would have crushed him. A mega-talented hybrid of winger and center, which has already attracted attention at previous stations (Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans) due to his phlegmatic approach to this sport. An 18 million dollar salary for someone who is easy going and eschews responsibility? They don’t even boo someone like that in New York, they punish him with ignorance.
This season, however, Randle recently went to Most Improved Player elected – so the player who has developed the most, and if you are looking for reasons why Randle is suddenly toiling, it should be said that in the coming season only four million salary is guaranteed; he’ll only get the remaining 16 million if the Knicks don’t let him go by the end of this season. Such a 400 percent bonus can spur you on, and what that means could be seen on Wednesday against Atlanta: Randle managed this throw to the lead, he conjured up a couple of nice passes to his colleagues; but it showed how insignificant statistics (there were 15 points and four passes) are sometimes. Randle grindete, he chased balls afterwards to the stands, put his body in the way of charging opponents, rummaged under the basket, picked rebounds against several opponents. It was ugly, it was dirty, it was: New York City.
“This is how playoff basketball has to be, people have to yell, insult you and tip your parents with beer”
Next to him: Derrick Rose, a very talented playmaker, who should actually not be on the floor for so many minutes per game after injuries of Badstubian proportions. On Wednesday it was almost 39 minutes, 26 points, four rebounds. He caused the second eruption in the arena when, shortly before the end, he turned back the time by ten years and three knee operations and brought the Knicks back into the lead after the Hawks caught up. “I’m 32 years old now and I’ve experienced a little something. But I dreamed of a moment like this for a long time,” he said after his 49th playoff game, in which he not only scored, but worked like Randle: “So it has to be playoff basketball, people have to yell, insult you, tip your parents over with beer. That’s part of it.
Numerous legends of this sport, for example Michael Jordan, Larry Bird or Hakeem Olajuwon, said after the end of their glamorous careers that they only got the fur they needed for titles through appearances in Madison Square Garden. That was probably the reason why Trae Young (30 points, seven passes) laughed when the audience insulted him again at the end of the game and Spike Lee danced around in front of him. He knew: You can’t get more respect (and therefore fear) than that. A decisive seventh game – many believe that this is how the gripping series will be decided – would take place next Sunday. In Madison Square Garden.
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