Lasting image of Knicks’ last playoff series still haunts Mike Woodson
NY Post
Former Knicks head coach Mike Woodson still has nightmares about Indiana center Roy Hibbert’s block on Carmelo Anthony eight years ago.
On May 19, 2013, Anthony drove baseline midway through the fourth quarter in Game 6 of the second-round series vs. the Pacers. Anthony rose up for the slam and got met at the rim by the Pacers’ former elite big man. The Hibbert swat was a momentum-changer as the Knicks collapsed down the stretch in Indiana, were eliminated from the playoffs and haven’t been heard from since.It was only a three-second glimpse, but Matt Rempe, finally, showcased offensive strides. The ones he started talking about in the preseason — after a summer’s worth of work — and kept doubling down on, even when he fluctuated in and out of the Rangers lineup and shuttled back and forth to AHL Hartford.
In a different time, in a season to come, we may be inclined to wax poetic about the way this one played out. In a different time, in a season to come, the Nets will be seeking to stack wins and not losses, will be fighting for playoff seeding and not for a few extra ping-pong balls in the draft lottery this spring.
The NBA has an All-Star Game problem. Despite Adam Silver’s efforts to inject juice into the February showcase — including a format alteration to the 2025 game that is too confusing to attempt to understand before it’s inevitably changed again — there’s little interest in watching teams eschew defense for a series of layup line highlights. That also means the most entertaining part of the NBA All-Star Game is just like the Pro Bowl — debating over who should get a spot.