Knicks forward Julius Randle (30) drives to the basket in the third quarter against the Atlanta Hawks during Game 5 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Credit: AP/Wendell Cruz
Taking the court at Madison Square Garden Wednesday night the Knicks found themselves in a place where few thought they’d be, hosting another postseason night before more than 16,000 fans, in the spotlight rather than the lottery and playing with their season on the line.
It would have been bold to predict this, even in their own locker room, when the season began with low expectations and a pandemic raging that had restricted the resumption of the prior season to a bubble restart and the start of this season to empty arenas with tarps spread over the seats.