Mike D’Antoni is Italian to the core, speaks the language fluently. But the Knicks coach should find a green leprechaun to clutch onto tonight.
Knicks president Donnie Walsh flies back from Paris today from a scouting mission. He might want to get off the plane, don the green tie he wears on St. Patrick’s Day and smoke an old-school Red Auerbach cigar.
Knick fans everywhere should head to the nearest Modell’s this morning and throw down a few bucks on a Rajon Rondo jersey. Or if you can’t do it, a new Nate Robinson jersey. If there is a “Boston Sucks” T-shirt in the wardrobe, burn it.
Anyone who cares deeply about the Knicks must get their green on this week. The success of the Celtics could mean the rebirth of the dead Knick franchise.
The Celtics have the Cavaliers reeling in the second round, with the series tied at 2-2. All the pressure tonight falls squarely on the Cavs, the NBA’s regular-season champions and strong favorites to win this series.
If Cleveland does not beat Boston tonight at Quicken Loans Arena, LeBron James just may have played his last home game as a Cavalier.
It was 57 degrees on a May afternoon in Cleveland yesterday, but the dread along the shores of Lake Erie made it feel like 23 degrees in February (James’ number).
James was silent yesterday, declining to speak to the press after practice. You should not need a doctorate in LeBronomics to figure a second-round ouster vs. Boston increases the likelihood of James fleeing Cleveland for the Knicks.
The LeBron Code is not exactly as intricate to decipher as “The Da Vinci Code.” We don’t need a Harvard University symbologist to crack it.
All season, when the question of free agency was put to James, he repeated variations of the same theme: “It’s all about winning.”
Translation: If James felt he can string together a series of championships in his hometown Cleveland, he was more than willing to pass up the bright lights of Broadway to spend his career in northeast Ohio.
A shocking second-round ouster to the elderly Celtics could be the impetus James needs — the kind of message from the basketball gods that it may not happen here, that it is as much a risk to stay as it is to leave. Seven seasons in Cleveland, one Finals appearance, zero titles.
A second-round ouster to Boston, and James can justify to the world why he would leave and sign with the Knicks for legitimate “basketball” reasons, not silly reasons like being close to Yankee Stadium. Teaming with Chris Bosh to rescue the Knicks — even if for three guaranteed years with an opt-out — is not preposterous if the Cavs lose here.
A poll on the Cleveland Plain-Dealer’s website asked whether getting eliminated by the Celtics would spur James to leave, or does James bleed wine and gold? The top answer was a Boston ouster would spur him to leave.
The acquisition of Antawn Jamison figured to be the final piece to Cleveland’s championship puzzle and it still may be. But it puts Cleveland into a box, as Jamison’s long-term contract does not give it the cap flexibility to make major moves to further improve the club, short of firing Mike Brown and bringing in, say, Jeff Van Gundy.
Shaquille O’Neal is a free agent and, considering the lack of respect shown by Brown in the Game 4 loss, Shaq is probably on the way out. O’Neal was yanked for foul trouble one minute into the fourth quarter and never returned. Brown spent most of his press conference yesterday defending the move.
“Any player in his situation would be upset not coming back in,” Brown acknowledged yesterday after Cavaliers’ practice.
The Cavaliers did not look like championship material Sunday in Boston. James had little help — the story of his Cleveland stint — but also did not attempt to own the game. Whether due to his injured elbow, James was a passive 2 of 7 in the fourth quarter. His team was outrebounded in the fourth by little Rondo alone, 7-6.
James made a remark late in the season he “will not stop” until he brought Cleveland its first NBA championship. Taken literally, James would not depart Cleveland unless he won a title. Don’t take it literally.
Take this literally. If Cavaliers cannot get out of the second round this week, King James will be looking more intensely at finding a new throne, possibly in the world’s greatest city in the World’s Most Famous Arena.
It’s safe to chant it tonight: “Let’s Go Celtics!”