SPANISH HARLEM – After a terrible loss to the Orlando Magic on Sunday, the New York Knicks redeemed themselves with a win against the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s an understatement to say that Philly has owned the Knicks the last couple of years and even without Ben Simmons, they are seen as one of the better teams in the conference. While the Orlando loss was ugly and should of never happened, the win Tuesday brought back all the good feelings Knicks’ fans had about the team.
Kemba Walker was lights-out in the second quarter, hitting four 3-pointers to give the Knicks a 20-point lead heading into halftime. It was a big quarter for the team when you consider that they were down 4 ending the 1st quarter. Walker answered some questions about what he will be able to provide after what many would consider 3 mediocre games prior. The last two years haven’t been kind and he will continue to have a question mark hovering throughout the season because of his injury history, but the Knicks don’t need him to be the Kemba that came into the league. If he can continue to have more games like he did on Tuesday, the team will be in good hands.
Chicago Bulls
For anyone that grew up in the 90’s, the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan were the most hated team during that era. Knicks fans will tell you that Patrick Ewing would have had a championship if not for MJ. It was a heated rivalry that had the Bulls on the winning side every time but it was like that for any team that faced Jordan in the playoffs. The Knicks always seemed to be their greatest hurdle but it was a hurdle they leaped over time and time again.
Now with Chicago and New York being good teams again (at least for the time being), two of the biggest markets in the NBA get to talk sh!t to each other once again. It’s been a long time since both teams were good, so there wasn’t much to talk about among them but that has changed of late. If both team continue to compete at a high level, it will be easy for the media to make it their games an event. The rivalry is more about the cities than it is the teams now but that won’t change the bad blood.
That it for now, come back tomorrow for Different Matt.
Until next time…
