Why Sunday night’s roller coaster win perfectly encapsulates this team, their coach and their season

Sunday night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers was a ludicrous one. It had plenty of ups, a few downs, and ended in a win that embodied the Knicks perfectly. And in more ways than one, it was the perfect game to encapsulate this Knicks team, their coach, and the 23-24 season.

The game, as everyone knows by now, started with Jalen Brunson going down with an injury, which is something the Knicks and their fans have unfortunately gotten accustomed to seeing. While Brunson himself has only missed a handful of games this season, New York has seen Mitchell Robinson, Julius Randle, and OG Anunoby all miss a significant amount of time. So when Brunson went down with what looked like a serious non-contact injury, it was an all too familiar feeling. Except, it felt worse than any of the other injuries.

When Robinson went down, fans were disappointed but knew that they could at least hold the fort down with Isaiah Hartenstein, and Jericho Sims. When Julius Randle got hurt, fans were all sad and worried but knew that with Brunson and Anunoby still out there, they had a shot to stay afloat. When it was announced that Anunoby would need surgery, fans panicked but still knew that this team could still manage to get to playoffs if it could just hang on for dear life until everyone came back. But that feeling was only there because the Knicks still had Brunson, who has spoiled everyone by playing like a top-10 player for much of the season. So when Brunson, who was keeping the Knicks season alive, went down, everyone experienced a roller coaster of emotions, ping-ponging between hopelessness, anger, frustration, sadness, and speechlessness.

At the time, it was hard for anyone to really focus on the game as it looked like the Knicks’ season had ended in front of their eyes. But as this team, as it so often has this season, kept fighting and gave fans a much-needed distraction. Josh Hart, in a way that only he can, dominated the game as he was seemingly everywhere on the floor, grabbing 19 rebounds, dishing out 10 assists, and scoring 13 points. Donte DiVincenzo continued his stellar season by leading the way with 28 points on 11-22 shooting. Bojan Bogdanovic, who was coming off of a 0-7 shooting game against the Warriors, exploded for 20 points off the bench. And we can’t forget about Deuce McBride, who played 47 minutes and scored 16 points while playing amazing defense for much of the night. But none of this would’ve been possible without the man at the helm, Tom Thibodeau.

The Knicks’ coach definitely isn’t without his flaws. He is likely the most stubborn coach in the league, has a history of making questionable rotation decisions, is sometimes way too slow to make mid-game adjustments, and isn’t the most creative offensive mind. But if we’re going to point out his imperfections, we must also give him his flowers when deserved. And Sunday night’s performance is one he certainly deserves credit for. The Knicks, already down three starters, lost another one just seconds into the game, and still came away with a victory on the road thanks to their defense, and ability to take on Thibodeau’s “next man up” approach, which continues to be an ongoing trend with this team. Regardless of who is available or not, this team, ever since Thibodeau took over, has refused to quit or back down. Guys are always ready to take on bigger roles, players at the end of the bench stay ready whenever their name is called, and they fight from the second the game starts until the whistle blows, no matter what happens. And that’s a luxury Knicks fans didn’t always have.

Now, a lot of talk around the Knicks continues to be around what this team isn’t and what they don’t have, but this team, injured or not, has grit, depth, and a coach who knows how to get guys to buy into the culture, and it was on full display as the Knicks secured what might have been the most important, Thibodeau-esque, season-defining, and season-swinging win of the season. And while the game started in a scary way, we were unexpectedly treated to a game that ultimately had a little bit of everything and perfectly epitomized what this team and season is and has been about.