The New York Knicks had, by any standard, what should be considered a successful season. They were solid in the regular season, overachieved a bit in the playoffs, and finished just two wins short of an NBA Finals appearance.
Via the NY Post:
This was not about a moral victory.
It wasn’t about taking solace in anything after a hard-fought series.
Jalen Brunson wanted to make that clear.
He didn’t view the Knicks reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years as any sort of achievement.
The Knicks captain, however, felt it was appropriate to acknowledge what went right this year for the Knicks, even if they fell six wins short of their ultimate goal.
“I’m not sure ‘accomplished’ is the word I would use here, but I think the way this team progressed this year, for me it was fun,” Brunson said after the Knicks were eliminated by the Pacers in six games Saturday night. “There were a lot of people saying we couldn’t do a lot of things. A lot of negativity around what we were trying to accomplish and the way we put blinders on and went to work, that’s something I was proud of with this team. I’m proud of how we stayed the course.”
Knick fans can certainly be, understandably, disappointed that the team fell short of a finals appearance, but they should realize that their squad did them proud.