The Knicks could end up as the No. 2 seed in the East, with home court advantage in at least the first two rounds they play, and it would be thanks to a late surge that has seen them go 13-7 since the calendar turned to March.
Kind of reminiscent of how the 2007 Giants went on a run to the title? It was to Ian from Astoria, who called in to Evan & Tiki Friday to make that comp based on guys named Tom coaching teams that beat Boston…
“There's an argument to be made that last night was the most important regular season game that the Knicks have played, and I'll tell you why: there's precedent,” Ian said. “17 years ago, a team from New York coached by a man named Tom played a team from Boston at the end of the regular season, and they played them tough, and they gave them the hope, and they knew that they could compete and they knew that they could win! And when they saw them in the Super Bowl, they took care of the Patriots! It's the exact same scenario. And Tiki, you made me think of it: Tom Thibodeau has changed, just like Tom Coughlin had to, to get where to get where they ultimately ended up. And it's been fantastic.”
Okay, so a Knicks win over the No. 1-seeded Celtics three days before season’s end was actually better than what the Giants did against New England in the ’07 finale, but yes, the Knicks would still be big underdogs in an Eastern Conference Final against Boston.
Ian was right, though, in Tiki feeling part of this Knicks run is a Thibs change.
“It's one of those things where it's subtle, and if you're outside of the organization or the sphere of the fan base, it doesn't mean anything to you – but if you say it to a Knicks fan, it makes perfect sense,” Tiki said. “Just like when you said it to the Giants fan that Tom Coughlin was different in 2007, it made perfect sense – and it wasn't an accident that they played so great and then ultimately won a Super Bowl.”
And that was the end of the lovefest.
“I give you the second part, but I ain't giving you the first part. I'm sorry, I guess I'm being a bad guy, but you cannot compare the Giants-Patriots game when the Patriots are trying to complete a perfect season to the Celtics, who two days earlier lost to the Bucks,” Evan shot back. “Look, the Celtics tried last night, I’ll make that very clear. But at the end of the day, there wasn't anything on the line. The Patriots game mattered; they were looking to become an undefeated team, and that was a big deal. You can't compare that to last night's Celtics-Knicks game. It's a nice try, I commend Ian for the effort, but stop.”
“I think you're misinterpreting; you're looking at it from the Patriots/Celtics side, he's talking about it from the Knicks/Giants side,” Tiki replied. “Yeah, the Giants lost that last regular season game to the Patriots, but in their minds they were like, ‘we got these guys, we know we can play with them, they are not unbeatable.’ I don't think they needed this destruction of the Celtics, that final score is unbelievably misleading, but they didn’t need that juice – but from an observer's perspective, it feels the same for the Knicks and the Giants; it feels like alright, the best team in the world, we can play with them.”
Evan thinks there’s still some missing context there, even knowing the Celtics have been almost unbeatable in Boston this year, and that’s why Tiki thinks it meant something – but again, Evan thinks that Super Bowl was an iconic game, and this one wasn’t anywhere near it.
“There will never be a documentary told about the Knicks and Celtics on April 11, 2024,” Shaun Morash said, but Tiki fought back by saying “there wouldn't have been a documentary told about the Giants Week 17 of the 2007 season if they hadn't won the Super Bowl.”
Take a listen to the whole discussion above!