Knicks fans forget about the bad times and savor a record run to their first NBA Finals since 1999

NEW YORK (AP) — The song selection at the New York Knicks’ watch party couldn’t have been more obvious.

Minutes after the Knicks finished their four-game sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals, the DJ at Radio City Music Hall played Prince’s “1999.”

Advertisement

That was the last time the Knicks had reached the NBA Finals. And as fans sang along to, “So tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1999,” they could forget the more than a quarter of a century of mostly bad years since and enjoy the record-setting run the current team is on.

“There is no precedent right now as far as point differential. That’s how good this Knicks team is,” said Ari Levine, who was carrying part of a broom as the Knicks swept their second straight series.

He’s right. The Knicks have outscored Atlanta, Philadelphia and Cleveland by a combined 262 points during their playoff winning streak, the largest margin in any 11-game span in NBA history.

They will try to continue it against Oklahoma City or San Antonio in the NBA Finals. Fans seemed to have a clear preference for Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs as they poured out of the famous Manhattan venue onto city streets, chanting “We want Wemby! We want Wemby!”

Advertisement

But whether it’s him or the defending champion Thunder, Knicks fans believe the run will continue.

“We’re taking everything! We’re taking the whole thing!” rapper Fat Joe posted on Instagram from the court in Cleveland, where he was one of the Knicks’ celebrity fans who made the trip.

It wasn’t that long ago when fans had no reason for such confidence. The Knicks went 17-65 in 2018-19, the worst record in the league, during a stretch when they had a losing record for seven straight seasons.

“That year we won 17 games I thought we had reached rock bottom,” longtime fan Anthony Mills said at the Radio City party. “I wasn’t sure that we could ever get this back again.”

Advertisement

He became a Knicks fan when Bernard King was playing for them in the mid-1980s, a decade removed from their second and most recent championship in 1973. The drought is now so long he believes if the…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-fans-forget-bad-times-071047738.html

Author : BRIAN MAHONEY

Publish date : 2026-05-26 07:10:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.