Abe Beame wrote these bars backstage at the Garden.
It’s taken me a long, long time to sit in front of the computer and fire this up. In some ways, it’s because it’s an extremely painful two hours of footage to sit through and endure, and in some ways, it’s because when I finally submit this, and it runs, it will be the end of this series as we know it, and probably the last time I will sit and spend time intimately, with this team, in this moment, that shaped so much of my childhood. There’s a poetic and maudlin sentiment I’ve thought, and read, and watched by generations of sad guys that I’ll paraphrase as: The pain of a dead relationship hurts, but a part of you wants to hold onto that hurt. What you really fear is its absence, because that absence represents a kind of death. Not just for the relationship, but a piece of you. It’s letting go of who you were.
For people who continue to carry the torch in the darkness for the 90’s Knicks, the story doesn’t end in 1994. There were years of great playoff runs. Another showdown with the Bulls, the battles with Reggie’s Pacers, the Capulet and Montague levels of intrigue with Riley and his Heat. And I was there for it all. For every game. I lived and died every second, and surely, at some points, when we were competing in the second round over the years, when we made a crazy Finals in 99 as an 8 seed, I entertained hopes of what might be, in the way I did in ’93 and ’94. But when I look back, these two years represent the last time we were either the ill-fated best team in the league, or the second-best. A star crossed, never was champion, that as a child captivated my imagination, expanded my idea for what was possible, then dashed my hopes and dreams forever.
By the time LJ connected his fist with his elbow, I was 15 years old. There was space for girls, for the future, for drugs, and friends, and ideas that extended off court, or field. When I was 10, for perhaps the last time, give or take a tragic Don Mattingly playoff exit, sports defined weeks, if not months of my life. I lived and died between bounces. The passion, the curiosity, the capacity for wonder, died this night, on this court in Houston.
Sometimes I wonder what it would’ve been like to grow up as a Bulls fan in the 90’s, as so many of my peers in New York elected to. To have all your hopes, wishes and impossible dreams recognized. To win, and win, and win, and win, and win, and win. Every fairytale narrative came true, every wish fulfilled. Does it shape the people we are today? Would I somehow be happier, less fatalistic, less likely to interpret my self conceived narrative and general philosophy based on what John Starks did one night in Houston when I was in fourth grade? In other words, less Jewish?
Perhaps the Knicks are the perfect team for my brethren. The ancient and broken New Yorkers. They’re the absent father we always wanted to point to as an excuse. The inarticulate anger, the injustice we feel when we witness strangers being shitty to one another on the train, or we get an untoasted roll after its clearly specified when ordered a BEC at the bodega. Were the Knicks a physical manifestation of the vast, chaotic, frigid, unkarmic laws governing the universe that reward the evil and punish the good? Who can say?
Just know, as you read this, there are two people writing it. One is a 36-year old man, drinking a glass of wine in front of a laptop in his quiet apartment in a state of bemused detachment, searching for novel ways to make fun of Kenny Smith’s haircut. And the other is a ten year old boy, frying his rods and cones, lying prostrate on the floor of his carpeted living room in front of a glowing idol and its failing neon Gods, watching the manifestation of inconceivable horror play out in realtime. Losing his religion.
0:00: I literally let out an audible sigh after I finished the intro and Googled, “Knicks Rockets Game 7 1994”
0:58: I’m not a poetry guy but I would bet money Costas has horrible taste in poets.
1:35: Home teams in any round of the playoffs were 19-0 in Game 7s going back to 1982. What the actual fuck.
3:12: There’s a feature I have running on my YouTube video I’ve never seen before called live chat replay, which I guess is like watching the comments on Instagram Live being replayed in real time, and some guy named Tony E just commented: “I got 100 on the knicks I’ve never seen this game before” I laughed out loud. Shout to you, king.
5:26: The Rockets deadass have cheerleaders in cinched t-shirts and belted black denim shorts with gold pom poms. Ladies and gentlemen: The 90s.
5:40: Prior to this series, Kenny Smith’s barber was the first ever recorded case of Covid and his wife had to line him up.
5:52: Starks looks like a man who is going to miss some shots tonight.
6:06: Young Horry’s head looks like a half eaten container of super sized fries.
6:23: Hakeem won the tip and immediately sunk my parlay.
6:40: Horry opens the game by rubbing his nuts on Patrick’s forehead.
6:58: Derek goes Gervin. Christ, I love this guy. I actually just Google shopped “Derek Harper Knicks Jersey”, found this and immediately purchased it. Pay no attention to the $150 price tag for what was probably a $20 Champion replica of a guy who played on the Knicks for two and a half seasons, that in the description it says the lettering is cracked and there is some kind of stain somewhere, the seller lives in NJ, has an American flag in the background of this shot for some reason and almost certainly voted for Trump. This is a completely normal and good purchase, let’s move along.
7:17: Kenny Smith literally will not face up with Derek. He’s like a little kid trying to shield the ball from his older brother with his body because he’s afraid it will be taken away.
7:41: Charles Smith moves with the grace and fluidity of a character from the California Raisins Christmas Special:
9:00: Crowd is going nuts. Currently really, really feeling the home court advantage. So the Knicks finished this season 57-25, the Rockets 58-24. I decided to torture myself with a deep dive to imagine what might’ve been:
On Tuesday, December 28th, 1993, the Knicks lost 95-97 to the New Jersey Nets. This was the second time the Knicks lost to the Chuck Daly Nets in a week (85-81 Nets, Dec. 21st). Kenny Anderson and Derrick Coleman combine for 51 points. I can’t find a viable recap but I can only assume Arman Gilliam hit his first and only career 3 pointer at the buzzer to win (I actually looked this up afterward to confirm, in 13 years in the NBA Gilliam never attempted a 3. I’m leaving the joke in, but astonishing).
On Sunday, January 2nd, 1994, The Knicks lost to the Charlotte Hornets 123-124 in OT. Both teams were shorthanded. LJ and Mourning were out, the Knicks were banged up and 3-4 since Doc Rivers went down for the season. Ewing had a pivotal shot waved off with what sounds like a bogus fucking offensive foul in OT, Kenny Gattison hit a game winner and Starks missed an equalizer.
On Saturday, January 8th, 1994, The Knicks lose to Charlotte again, 99-102. Once again, Mourning and LJ were out. It was actually Harper’s first game with the team. Harper misses a 3 that would’ve sent the game to OT, Knicks lose twice to an injury depleted Hornets team in a week.
On Friday, January 21st, 1994, Knicks lose to the Magic 103-106. Shaq goes for an unreal 37-17, Penny goes for 25, Nick Anderson goes for 19. Patrick is there for 36. Once again, the internet is disturbingly light on next day game recaps for regular season games in 1994, but I can only assume something awful happened.
On Tuesday, April 19th, 1994, the Knicks lost to the Atlanta Hawks 84-87. It was a battle for Eastern conference supremacy the Hawks won out behind 23-17 from Kevin Willis. The Hawks were only one game ahead of the Bulls and 1.5 games ahead of the Knicks with 5 games to play in the regular season and somehow, we still got the 1 seed.
On Wednesday, November 24th, 1993, the Rockets beat the Utah Jazz 95-93 in OT. No recap but Hakeem went for 29 and an emerging Cassell went for 15.
On Friday, November 26th, 1993, the Rockets beat the Kings 92-89. The Rockets squeak by on a late possession block by Hakeem. Mitch Richmond and Hakeem go toe to toe, Kings pull up just short on a game tying 3 that rims out at the buzzer.
The next night, the Rockets beat the Clippers 82-80 (This was in the midst of a foreshadowing 15 game winning streak). Clippers were more or less playing catch up the whole night. Rockets shut the door with a smart Hakeem foul at the perimeter with the Clippers down 3 and no time left. A lane violation ended it.
On Sunday, December 5th, 1993, the Rockets beat the Cavs 99-98. Once again, no recap. Hakeem and Mark Price did battle. Guessing Hakeem drew a bullshit offensive foul at the buzzer off Chris Mills to waive off a dagger, and win the game.
On Tuesday, December 21st, 1993, the Rockets beat the Spurs 90-88. It was an epic battle of the MVP candidate bigs between Hakeem and David Robinson. It came down to a tragic, Vernon Maxwell running game winner.
On Tuesday, January 25th, 1994, the Rockets beat the Cavaliers again, 96-93. These are two whole team efforts. Brad Daugherty led the way with 23. No recap but it reads like a sleepy, late January regular season contest. The Rockets just happened to prevail.
On Tuesday, February 22nd, 1994, the Rockets beat the Nuggets 98-97. Scotty Brooks hit the game winning free throws, and Mahmoud Abdul Rauf takes the mind numbing decision to pull up for a mid-range J down 3, ensuring the loss.
On Sunday, April 10th, 1994, the Rockets once again edge out the Nuggets 93-92. It’s a war between Hakeem and Abdul-Rauf, with Hakeem coming out on top. Cassell is fully in bench assassin mode with 18. Guessing he pulled up for a W.
Now, if literally one possession goes differently in any of those 13 games, the Knicks end up with homecourt and a potential championship. And it’s in the humble opinion of this narrator that this was not just, “Something that happened”. This cannot be, “One of those things”. This, please, cannot be that. And for what I would like to say, I can’t. This is not just a matter of chance. No. These strange things happen all the time.
9:28: Starks just took it to the rack and got clobbered. Does that count as a miss?
9:53: A few weeks ago, I got in an argument with someone who was probably born after this series was played about how bad Starks was in it, which is always a great idea. This game killed his average so it doesn’t hold up but this stat shows you, he basically had two bad games. The Knicks lost. Starks was bad in two very important games in the series, but this was a full team loss and making Starks a scapegoat is disingenuous.
10:04: Wow. And on cue Marv gotta bring up 3-18 in Game 1.
10:22: Lol. Derek literally just got a hand check foul for getting stiff-armed by Kenny.
11:34: Mad Max got it going early. Not great!
11:56: Oak looks out of sorts. Can only imagine it’s due to Ewing’s failure of leadership and not Oak being a punk ass bitch.
14:02: Not even going to transcribe this dumbass anecdote about Rudy T and his wife that Hannah Storm just described. Just know, this dude has OCD on some real Wade Boggs fried chicken shit.
14:23: Kenny Smith looks like the baby in Eraserhead grew up.
16:26: Carl Herrera, wherever you are, I hope you had the mild version of Covid where you didn’t have to go to the hospital, or get anyone else sick, but were inconvenienced for a few nights, had temperature and was generally uncomfortable for a bit with no long lasting after effects.
20:03: Starks barely, barely misses a finger roll. Real lid on the rim shit.
20:48: Kenny just had another wildly ineffectual possession. He’s doing nothing for the Rockets. He was on a podcast recently and claimed if they redrafted, taking the modern NBA into consideration, he would’ve been drafted third, with David Robinson and Reggie Miller going first and second. So this means he would’ve taken himself over Scottie Pippen, Kevin Johnson, Horace Grant, Derrick McKey, and Mark Jackson. To the many NBA front office people and Inside the NBA producers line reading this piece, this means Kenny Smith is a fucking moron. Please don’t hire him or give him any more segments.
20:58: Hakeem is currently 2-7, but we’re not ready to have that conversation.
21:09: Starks just missed front rim on a curl pull up. Early for weak legs.
21:16: Kenny just beat Starks to the hole. Starks averaged 42 minutes a game through the 7 game series. Kenny averaged 25. Wonder if there’s anything to that?
22:23: Wow. Derek Harper straight up punked the shit out of Kenny in a pre game interview. Please have this man on Inside the NBA.
24:03: Apparently Sophie Tomjanovich is Brad Pitt in Moneyball
26:15: Somebody get Hubert Davis.
26:30: ANTHONY BONNER ALERT.
26:33: Marv is making the point that with Herrera feasting like he did all series he’s surprised we didn’t see more Bonner, justifiably subtweeting Riley for being a rigid dick head.
27:10: Charles Smith moves with the grace and fluidity of a player from the 1988 NES classic Magic Johnson’s Fast Break.
28:31: Damn. Hate when they cut the commercials out of these YouTube clips. One less stream of nostalgia to channel and roast mercilessly.
28:58: Fuck. This is sad. Marv is listing all the NBA legends who had to wait a decade plus for their rings: Elvin Hayes (And soon Hakeem)- 10 years. Oscar Robertson- 11 years. Jerry West- 12 years.
29:42: On a 90s Knicks squad this is really saying something: GA had the biggest sack on the team. That dude was utterly fearless.
30:08: Garbage phantom call on Starks, playing great defense on Mario Elie, who lost his footing and traveled.
30:43: Imagine having a career 44% 3 point shooter on your bench and letting him shoot 8 shots the entirety of the fucking NBA Finals. Justice for Hubert Davis.
32:03: These teams really are nearly mirror images of one another. I wonder if there was ever another Finals where the two teams were so evenly matched?
32:39: Jesus fucking Christ. Fucking Guppy.
33:05: Mase was surreal. He just torched the entire Rockets transition D pushing the break at full speed, ran a give and go with Charles Smith and finished with a silky baby hook. We will never see his body type/skill set again. I think he could beat Kenny in a foot race dribbling.
34:58: Remember that travel call the refs blew on Elie? Good news. They forgot the way makeup calls are supposed to work and called it on Patrick, off a bump that should’ve been a foul.
35:30: Patrick just got mugged by Otis Thorpe on a rebound and they called it a jump ball.
35:56: Crowd heartily booing Starks and Harper as they check back in. I love the hate.
37:23: Patrick looking a little creaky tonight. Wonder what the knee/back situation was for this game. He looks like he borrowed D’brickashaw Ferguson’s knee pads.
38:21: Both teams starting to look like the moment is getting big for them, but Patrick is getting butchered and the refs are letting it happen.
39:22: Sweet fancy Moses, Charles Smith moves with the grace and fluidity of Elaine Benes, dancing at a working outing.
40:27: Game is tight but offense seems to be coming a lot easier for the Rockets right now. Their legs just look fresher.
41:18: Wouldn’t be this series without an illegal D.
41:46: Ewing comes off the bench and pulls up front rim. Marv and Guokas are calling him tentative but he looks tired/hurt to me.
42:54: Horry-Thorpe-Hakeem v. Mase-Oak-Patrick is some real Monster Island shit.
43:07: Starks drains a free throw line pull up. Think he’s starting to cook folks!
44:08: Please go to this time stamp and watch the fucking dog shit Kenny just pulled out of his ass with one second on the shot clock. Please. Now he’s nodding and licking his fingers. Did not call bank. Would not have counted at the Boys and Girls Club. Ridiculous swing.
44:56: Still angry.
45:15: Coming out of timeout at the Houston area they’re playing “Twist and Shout”. We have a long way to go, but look how far we’ve come.
45:34: A really contentious loose ball foul against Starks as both he and Maxwell go up for a rebound. I really try to maintain neutrality as I watch this shit and comment on easy marks like officiating, even though it probably doesn’t read like it, but so far this game ever single 50/50 call has gone against New York.
45:44: More of an indictment of Stark’s mental toughness, but you can tell the shitty calls are really getting in his head.
46:10: Starks is currently 1-5, heading to the bench. It’s crazy he’s going to miss an additional 13 shots before the end of this game.
46:34: Another contentious loose call on Derek bumping with Maxwell. This one is probably fair.
47:07: If basketball hadn’t worked out for Derek Harper, he could’ve been a great State Trooper with that mustache.
48:45: Moving pick on Patrick. What is happening. This game ends with a completely even number of fouls called. When does that start?
49:15: Maxwell is such an interesting body type/game. He’s 6’4 but looks a bit smaller. He’s explosive as fuck. I guess sort of a precursor to the Baron Davis/Rose/Westbrook penetrating and finishing guard types.
49:58: What a performance from Derek. 13 in the first half. He earned every penny of the $150 I just gave to this schmoe in Plainview New Jersey.
50:40: Getting chippy. I love to see it.
52:13: Hakeem is moving at a different speed in the post right now.
53:08: Mason just fucking crammed. Earlier I couldn’t come up with any good player comp for his game, but one just occurred to me.
53:26: End of the half. Knicks are only down 2, kind of a miracle because it felt like Rockets were comfortably in the driver’s seat. Have to imagine we’re about to turn this thing around.
53:42: Ewing went 2-6, 4 points, 6 rebounds. Hakeem went 4-12. Derek Harper went for 13, totally justifying my impulse buy. They’re playing Talking Heads, “Burning Down the House” as the teams head into their respective locker rooms????
54:10: During halftime, Riley said the Knicks were the best defensive team in the history of the NBA, which is obviously true.
54:39: In 2023, it will be 50 years since our last title.
54:57: Ewing coming out strong, challenging Hakeem immediately in the post, following his shot, and finishing a bunny put back.
58:40: Patrick looks different. Just sent a Horry layup attempt into the third row. Amped up intensity is palpable.
59:02: Fuck. Horry just caught Oak sleeping on an inbound oop. They always had an answer.
1:00:12: Derek just recovered a loose ball turnover, ran a break 1 on 3, and finished with ease at the rim. Absolute king.
1:01:47: Charles Smith moves with the grace and fluidity of a new born giraffe taking its first steps.
1:02:17: Hakeem is so composed. I want to hate him but I just can’t do it.
1:02:43: I am 100% certain Sophie and Rudy Tomjanovich slept in separate beds and only fucked to procreate.
1:03:01: Young Horry was such a problem.
1:03:50: Oak has been great in this series and no one can take that away from him, but he’s been a non-factor thus far in this game.
1:04:41: Yet another loose ball scrum foul, going against the Knicks, robbing us of an offensive rebound. This was Oakley’s third. For an NBA Game 7 in 1994 this one is really being called shockingly tight. Would think after 6 games we’d go gloves off and let them play rather than constantly take the ball out of their hands.
1:05:29: Knicks just dodged two bullets on the last Rockets possession. All the bounces seem to be landing in their hands. Just was not our night.
1:06:42: Charles Smith moves with the grace and fluidity of Kendrick Perkins.
1:07:05: Guokas just claimed Oak was able to draw a foul with an eyebrow fake, which is an absolutely fascinating concept that kind of makes sense but I’ve never seen or heard of before.
1:09:14: Starks misses an, “Ok, I guess” corner 3 attempt.
1:09:56: Marv just made an interesting point, that Starks has had games like this all season when the shot isn’t falling early, and he often shoots his way back into it. Didn’t happen this night but we’ve seen it in this very series. Helps explain, at least a little, why Riley left him in.
1:10:06: Guokas also just countered that the Knicks aren’t doing much to free him, running him off the series of screens on set plays they’ve used before to get him going. Harder to explain.
1:10:36: And just to belabor the point, Marv explains that Hubert Davis and Rolando Blackmon aren’t really options in this situation, and it makes sense. Because Riley has been so stingy with gametime throughout this series. Because he did a poor job managing his bench, he set himself up for failure when it mattered the most and he needed options.
1:10:48: Oh no, sorry, but Guokas with the must quote monkey’s paw: “I don’t think there’s any question Pat Riley is going to stick with John Starks. Even if he goes 1-14.” (emphasis added by, “author”)
1:12:03: Objectively, I know the way Derek just guarded Sam Cassell bringing the ball up, that didn’t even result in a turnover, was a simple, solid, defensive possession, but in my heart, they should be teaching it in schools.
1:12:42: Starks nearly has the ball taken out of his hands on a finger roll attempt at the rim Hakeem swats.
1:13:54: Derek BOMBING FROM AWAY.
1:14:57: It’s incredible because of how low scoring these games are, how momentous each bucket feels.
1:15:50: Awful phantom call on the floor on Cassell bails out a bad shot.
1:17:01: Cassell just picked a lazy Oak outlet and buried a 12 foot jumper. No jokes. No comments. This was a thing that happened with the Rockets up 3 in the fourth quarter of Game 7 of an NBA Final.
1:17:40: I really wonder how many rookies in the history of the NBA would be capable of that level of awareness and muscle memory in that situation.
1:19:05: Great hustle play by Patrick. Do not go gentle into that good night.
1:19:37: Just to show I’m not a total homer, pretty annoying loose ball foul on Elie just trying to work around a pick and keep up with Starks. Feels like retribution based on all these awful calls.
1:20:35: Horry is really in his fucking bag right now.
1:22:01: Terrible call on Mase barely checking Hakeem. What the fuck at this point? The Rockets don’t need anymore help.
1:22:59: Starks actually gets a call going up for a heavily contested layup. Again, there was a screen at the top of the key but we’re not working to spring him in a meaningful way. Just feels like we’re flailing and defeatist due to a couple bad breaks, with the game still very much up for grabs.
1:24:23: Starks takes a 3 but Horry gets a piece. They keep referencing it so I’ll just say, imagine Starks hit the shot at the end of Game 6? Imagine John Starks wins an NBA championship on a buzzer beating 3? What does history look like now?
1:24:23: Starks rims out on a 3 that was basically down. He’s currently 1-10. Can’t get worse, right?
1:26:16: Greg Anthony for president. Would’ve been a wild move for 1994 but a 2 PG lineup with GA and Harper in this quarter would’ve probably won us the chip.
1:26:40: What an absolutely tragic scrum. Won’t even do the color. Just go to the timestamp.
1:27:40: 6:26 left. It’s a 3 point game.
1:28:32: Starks, pull up for 3, off front rim.
1:29:11: Starks, horrible pull up 3 off a turnover in transition. He’s shooting like there’s 30 seconds left. Probably his worst shot of the entire game, which is saying something. Results in an easy basket hanger slam by Hakeem off the rebound. A true reverse dagger.
1:29:31: Marv just literally said out loud that Starks need to stop shooting.
1:30:17: Kind of a tragic sequence here. Starks has a shot, passes first, ball whips around. Clearly, no one wants to shoot it, ends up back in Starks’ hands with the clock running down, he puts it up, clanks it. I mean, what do you want the guy to do?
1:31:22: I don’t know what the fuck is going on with Oak but he made more bizarre, butterfingers, stepping out of bounds, bungling rebound and loose ball turnovers in this game than I’ve ever seen out of him.
1:32:20: Oak is just getting roasted.
1:33:05: Starks swoops in on a gorgeous rebound after passing an open shot and finishes at the rack. One of those Rudy moments where you know it means nothing but you’re heartened by the courage and heart of the underdog that refuses to take no for an answer.
1:33:40: Two interesting things: Rockets have transitioned to Prevent offense, letting the clock wind then taking a bad shot, and the last Starks miss was a Kobe miss, he totally set Oak up for the offense rebound and subsequent shooting foul off the take. Should count for like a .5 miss.
1:35:24: Just for fun, even though he hasn’t done anything awkward in a while because he’s not in the game, Charles Smith moves with the grace and fluidity of Kendrick Perkins.
1:35:39: For all the shit I’m giving him, Oak winds up with a double double.
1:36:23: How the fuck did Patrick miss that shot? Starks laid it up on a platter.
1:36:48: Welp. Maxwell with the dagger.
1:37:42: It just occurred to me that this one game is why young people, or casual fans, or just people who aren’t insane, obsessive nut balls like me think Maxwell had a good series.
1:37:42: I’ve said this before, but this model with Hakeem as the anchor surrounded by shooters was 100% what Stan Van Gundy built those Dwight Howard teams around. Having a gravitational pull like that in the post opens up so many options for an offense in terms of spacing.
1:41:25: You should go to this time stamp and listen to Vernon Maxwell’s primal scream therapy after he misses this free throw. I’m legit drunk at this point, but I no longer even hate him either.
1:44:52: I can’t believe how bad this feels considering it was 26 years ago.
1:46:41: Of course Hubert just entered the game and fucking swapped a contested 3.
1:48:20: Game is over. Because I ran out of room, Charles Smith moves with the grace and fluidity of Kendrick Perkins.
1:48:25: I really told myself I was gonna watch the celebration and comment on it for the love of content, but I can’t even do it. I’m just fucking bummed out. Let’s go to the recap.
Ewing vs. Olajuwon Watch: Hakeem got it.
Final Thoughts: In the intro, I outlined what the Knicks next five years look like. We were always a bridesmaid, often deep in the procession. The other side of that final gasp against the Spurs in 99 is 20 years of truly, soul draining horror. Compounding terrible decisions (bad contracts, worse trades), bad culture, which of course equals bad morale, it was not fun to live through. I thought watching this would be cathartic in some way, but instead it just reminded me how close we came, and how badly it hurt to come up short. Still, it’s 2020. We’re in the greatest city in the world, which I’ve heard my whole life makes us a prime free agent destination. We have the great Leon Rose and World Wide Wes at his side. We’re in the process of hiring a new coach, with much of our salary coming off the books in time for Giannis’ free agent Summer and a core of young, beguiling players only I, and a select few true students of the game on Twitter seem to appreciate. What could possibly go wrong?
