The lights will be turned on at Madison Square Garden for a Knicks home playoff game for the first time in seven years, and the atmosphere will be electric as the Knicks return home after two devastating losses at the hands of the Boston Celtics.
The familiar chants of “Defense!!” will ring through the historic walls of the Garden, as Knicks fans descend on the “World’s most famous arena” hoping to witness the first playoff victory by the home team in 10 years.
Bring out Spike Lee and some of those front-running celebrities—the Garden is the venue of tonight’s main event.
Seven years ago Knicks fans witnessed their favorite team being manhandled by Jason Kidd and the New Jersey Nets—the last time the Knicks advanced to the playoffs.
A lot has changed since 2004—most notably, Isiah Thomas doesn’t roam the halls of the Garden anymore, and stiffs aren’t being over payed by the franchise since Donnie Walsh took over Thomas’ position. And their are no more sexual harassment lawsuits.
They now have two superstars in Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, and have shown that they can go toe-to-toe with the big bad Celtics after losing the first two games of the series by a combined five points.
Of course, the playoffs isn’t the time for moral victories, but considering Carmelo Anthony almost single handedly won Game 2 for the Knicks without Chauncey Billups, who was out for the entire game, and Stoudemire who left during the second quarter, the Knicks should be confident that they can beat the Celtics.
And one other thing can help push them to a victory: the Garden will be rocking.
There are, however, some big questions surrounding the health of the team. Will Stoudemire and Billups even play? Do the Knicks have anything left after two debilitating losses?
Well, it looks like Stoudemire will suit up, but nobody knows how much he can bring to the team. The Knicks are so concerned about his back that they sent the trainers to his penthouse suite in the city so he didn’t have to make the drive to their training facility in Westchester yesterday.
Stoudemire should have nothing to prove, and those people questioning his heart haven’t been paying attention this season.
He is the reason the Knicks are in the position they are now. He put the city and this team on his shoulders when he declared: “The Knicks are back.” Nobody should doubt his toughness, because everybody knows he will be eager to be part of the teams return to the Garden.
Billups’ status for tonight is up in the air. Most reports indicate that he is in too much pain to play, and after watching Rajon Rondo tear up Toney Douglas, can Billups even be of help to the Knicks if he can’t keep up with the Celtics point guard?
What the Knicks will have is the best player on the court. Anthony showed on Tuesday that he’s a dominant force, and he can carry a team if need be. His unbelievable performance would have went down in Knicks playoff lore if Jared Jeffries slammed the ball home, instead of trying to make an ill-advised pass that was gobbled up by Kevin Garnett.
Now down two games, the boys in blue and orange will have to live up to the hype of tonight’s game. They need to come out and show their fans that their two tough performances in Boston wasn’t a fluke.
The energy at the Garden is second to none, and when the Knicks are going good, there’s no better venue in sports. Carmelo and the rest of team need to feed off that energy. Their biggest weapon tonight: the roar of the Garden.