NEW YORK — It was fitting from Tom Thibodeau, though probably unintentional, to bring up the 90s Knicks just before a big Miami Heat game.
In previous years David Fizdale, a practitioner of waxing poetic, frequently mentioned the old rivalry to touch the sweet spot of Knicks fans — nostalgia. But no matter how much Fizdale talked, the former Knicks coach couldn’t bring any relevance to his games against the Heat.
Now they mean something again.
When the Knicks play in Miami on Friday night, they’ll have a chance to increase the separation from their biggest threat to the pivotal fifth seed.
The Heat, after all, are the best team below the Knicks in the standings. They have two bona fide stars (Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo), a Hall of Fame coach (Erik Spoelstra) and a recent NBA Finals appearance (2020).
“I keep waiting for Miami to get it together,” a longtime NBA scout said. “I know they’ve dealt with injuries and time is running out. But I still think it’s going to happen.”
An assistant coach agreed that injuries are a factor but added, “The Heat are slow. Not athletic.”
The Heat are seventh in the East and 3 1/2 games behind the No. 5 Knicks, who are riding high with a seven-game winning streak. Nobody expects the free-falling Nets to stick in their current spot at No. 6, setting up a potential New York-Miami race in the final month-plus.
At stake is not only a guaranteed playoff spot, but also the likelihood of avoiding the East’s triumvirate of Milwaukee, Boston and Philadelphia in the first round. The Cavaliers, who sit fourth in the East, represent the more appealing matchup.
Just don’t tell that to Cleveland star Donovan Mitchell, who set a high bar after Wednesday’s loss to the Celtics.
“I think we’re capable of being a championship team,” Mitchell said. “I think the biggest thing for us, obviously it’s not a secret, is that we lack experience. When people talk about we’re ‘not in their top three,’ or whatever it is, that’s fine.
“I think the biggest thing for us is we believe we cannot just make the playoffs, but make a deep run.”
Much of the Heat-Knicks race to face Cleveland will be settled in the proper way. They play each other three times in four weeks, the most head-to-heads remaining on either schedule.
Thibodeau, who has been smiling a lot more these days, was a Knicks assistant for all the big moments of the rivalry: when Patrick Ewing was suspended for walking on the court; when Jeff Van Gundy clung to Alonzo Mourning’s leg; when Allan Houston hit the game-winner.
Now the head coach sees similarities in work ethic between his old and new Knicks — particularly Ewing and Jalen Brunson.
“There’s a lot of rah rah, there’s a lot of stuff that’s always being said about what you’re doing. And I think the guys who are actually doing it, they never say it,” Thibodeau said. “You see it. And I knew from the first day, particularly in Jalen’s case, as soon as he got to the gym, I said this is exactly [like the 90s teams with Larry Johnson, Latrell Sprewell, Allan Houston]. Patrick Ewing set the tone for all of that. When you walked in — could be the middle of the summer — he was in there, he was your hardest worker. When your best players are setting the tone for the team, it’s special.”
As Thibodeau noted, styles and circumstances have changed from the 90s. The Heat and Knicks played a game 20 years ago with a combined score of 137. The Knicks beat that by themselves on Wednesday.
So they’ll be much more scoring and fewer flying elbows, but at least the matchup is important again to the Knicks.
