Mike Tirico remembers growing up in Queens watching the Knicks win NBA titles. That was 40 years ago, and it only feels like it has been that long since they have had a chance to win another.
After making it to the finals in 1994 and 1999, the Knicks are again being taken seriously as as a title threat. With the season past the midway point, they remain neck-and-neck with the Heat for the top seed in the East.
“We are running out of time for it to be ridiculous,” Tirico said when asked about the Knicks’ chances of sticking with the Heat for 82 games, and perhaps snatching home-court advantage from the defending champs.
“I thought it would be [ridiculous] to be honest. Even with — and I don’t want to call it fool’s gold — the first 20-point win [over Miami] was an eye opener and the second 20-point win was like, ‘OK maybe they are serious about this.’ ”
Tirico will call the Knicks’ game Sunday against the Clippers before hopping on the subway to do play-by-play for the Nets-Spurs game that evening in Brooklyn. While remaining close to the Heat in the standings, the Knicks have put a little distance between themselves and their local division rivals.
“I think with the way Carmelo [Anthony] has played, the Knicks have someone down the stretch that is such a tough scorer,” Tirico said when asked about the difference between the Knicks and Nets.
“That mix of Anthony, [Tyson] Chandler, [Jason] Kidd and I’ll add J.R. Smith because he has no fear, that mix of players at the end of the game is something I really like. I think that helps you win close games. I think that’s one place where, to a certain extent, the Nets are still finding their way. I’d love to see Deron Williams playing at the level he did in Utah during the playoffs.”
It’s a player that’s not starting who could be the most significant reason for the Knicks’ recent run of success. Amar’e Stoudemire has thrived coming off the bench since returning from a left knee injury on Jan. 1. Stoudemire’s willingness to bench his ego has added a needed scoring threat to the Knicks’ second unit.
“Amar’e’s ability to come off the bench and succeed I think has helped everybody on this group find their place,” Tirico said. “You have Melo and Amar’e, who we gave a lot of the blame to last year, that deserve a lot of the credit for making it work this year.”
It has the Knicks in position to win their first Atlantic Division crown since 1994.
“With seeding and stuff, we don’t pay a lot of attention to that, but I think it’s huge for the Knicks,” Tirico said. “They haven’t won the division in so long, and it would make the road to a potential East final against the Heat as easy as possible.”