Carmelo Anthony wants the New York Knicks to exact revenge on the Boston Celtics. Badly.
In 2011, Boston swept New York in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Two years later, the Knicks have the opportunity to return the favor. And Carmelo Anthony is excited.
Strike that, he’s more than excited. He’s “super-duper-happy-excited” about it. To be clear, those are his words, not mine.
Melo on chance to sweep Celtics after they swept Knicks in ’11: “If that happens I’ll be super-duper-happy-excited about that. I can’t lie.”
— Neil Best (@sportswatch) April 25, 2013
Aren’t you just excited that Carmelo is excited? It’s all just very exciting. Super-duper-happy-exciting.
In all seriousness, any of the Knicks who were around in 2011 would likely share in ‘Melo’s extensive jubilation. That first-round series wasn’t pretty to watch if you were loyal to New York. It physically hurt.
Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire were supposed to lead the Knicks to postseason greatness, and falling to the Celtics in stride was the beginning of a long stretch of mediocrity. Losing to Boston had also become all too familiar a site for those who called the Big Apple home.
Fast forward two years and the Knicks are now contenders, and have the chance to embarrass the Celtics in Round 1 the way they were humiliated in 2011. And ‘Melo would love it. The sidelined STAT would love it. Every Knicks fan and their brother’s wife’s cousin’s aunt’s best friend’s pet dog would love it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwPYb0Pmw2s
Beating a team like Boston means everything to New York. Any time the Knicks have the opportunity to come out on the winning side of one of the most intense rivalries in sports, it’s enthralling for the team and their fanbase. But to sweep them? That would mean everything. This was supposed to be a hard-fought series that lasted seven games. The Knicks weren’t even guaranteed to win. Knowing how scrappy Boston was, New York could have been staring down the barrel of an upset.
And it still could. The Knicks are only up 2-0. If the Celtics win Game 3, they’re right back in the series. But if the Knicks manage to pull out a victory in Game 3, they’ll be up 3-0, putting Boston in a hole that no NBA team has yet to overcome. Which would be incredible. Especially for ‘Melo.
Widely considered a postseason choke artist who is cancerous to his team dynamic, Anthony has made it out of the first round just once in nine tries. And leading into this series, he had only won one playoff game since joining the Knicks. Making quick work of the Celtics and advancing to the second round would only stand to enhance his reputation and potentially help kill the postseason stigma that has plagued him for the better part of a decade.
Now has never been a better time for Anthony and the Knicks to go on a run like a clean sweep of the Celtics would create. ‘Melo has watched LeBron James win a ring. He’s watched Chris Bosh win a ring. And he’s seen Dwyane Wade win two. Hell, even Darko Milicic won one with the Detroit Pistons. Which leaves Anthony as the only top-five pick of the 2003 NBA draft to have not won a title. So he wants this sweep. And more. Bad.
For those who might be thinking Game 3 is a trap game for the Knicks, I agree with you. Up 2-0, it’s easy for the Knicks to become cocky and feel superior, when they really haven’t even accomplished anything yet. But knowing how much beating the Celtics means to the team, to ‘Melo and his legacy, don’t expect New York to fall into that lull.
Game 3 is just as important as Games 1 and 2. A win puts the Knicks one victory away from the second round. It puts them one game away from sweeping the team that helped perpetuate New York’s reign of incompetency back in 2011.
And it puts the Knicks one win shy of rendering ‘Melo “super-duper-happy-excited.”
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
