The NBA Finals are about moments.And moments, by definition, are tiny slivers in time. A couple of seconds, maybe. An instant. Michael Jordan’s shrug. Michael Jordan’s pose. LeBron James’ chasedown block. Jerry West’s 60-footer to force overtime. Ray Allen’s 3-pointer to save Miami in 2013. Magic Johnson’s sky hook. Kobe Bryant jumping on a table, five fingers in the air to celebrate his fifth title. Willis Reed limping to the court for a Game 7.Those are the sort of ones that live forever, a singular event or sequence.The New York Knicks might have changed all that. They won Game 4 of the NBA Finals thanks to one of those moments — OG Anunoby’s tip-in that capped the Knicks’ rally from 29 points down surely earned him a lifetime membership into Club Iconic.But really, the whole comeback was a moment. Dozens and dozens of plays at Madison Square Garden, all weaved together to become a tale worthy enough for the stages of nearby Broadway and Radio City Music Hall.
It was 21 1/2 minutes of basketball, something that lasted well over an hour in real time. Anunoby had the exclamation point, but it’s a reasonable to say that the movie or whatever project that actor, director and diehard Knicks fan Ben Stiller is shooting from courtside with his cell phone during this series is going to feature a whole lot of those 21 1/2 minutes pretty prominently.
