The Easter holiday may not bring much joy to today’s New York Knicks, but it does bring up a special memory not too long ago at Madison Square Garden.
The New York Knicks have had plenty of memorable games on holidays, most notably Christmas Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Easter holiday isn’t often among that list, but it does feature one of the more iconic crowd moments in Madison Square Garden history.
April 8, 2012 featured the Knicks hosting the highly favored Chicago Bulls on Easter Sunday in front of a nationally televised audience. The stars for both teams were out as the Knicks were still in the “Linsanity” era with Jeremy Lin and perennial All-Star Carmelo Anthony. The Bulls were a top team in the Eastern Conference with recent Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose leading the charge well before his infamous ACL tear.
Both teams battled valiantly back and forth throughout the game, with Anthony catching fire and scoring a game high 43 points. His biggest baskets would come during crunch time as the New York crowd erupted with every 3-point basket made similar to scenes from past home playoff games.
The first 3-point basket came with 11.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter to force the game into overtime. The next one sealed Chicago’s fate as he sank a triple over Luol Deng from the right-wing with 8.2 seconds left, eliminating a two-point deficit. The Knicks walked out victorious 100-99 to the cheers of a deafening Madison Square Garden crowd.
Anthony shared his excitement with the media following what many consider to be his most iconic moment as a member of the Knicks.
"“It was a great atmosphere. That’s how the Garden’s supposed to be. This was a playoff game. We might play these guys in the playoffs if we keep doing what we’re doing and get that seed. So this is a big statement game for us and we willed this win today.”"
At the time, the Knicks were battling with the Milwaukee Bucks to clinch a playoff berth as Chicago was well on its way to a top seed. The Bulls were considered among the elite defensive teams in the league led by another future Knicks player Joakim Noah. Anthony described to reporters the level of difficulty just to attempt shots against the stingy Bulls defense.
"“They were making my shot tough today. That was probably the best shot that I was going to get. If I had drove, I probably would have gotten bumped and had to take a messed-up shot. I just felt that at that point in time if I make it we go to overtime. This is one of the better teams in the whole league but we feel that we can go out there and compete, We kept our confidence when they made that run. We kept our composure and fought through.”"
The Knicks would go on to a 36-30 record in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, qualifying for the seventh seed in the playoffs. They would eventually be overpowered in the postseason, losing in five games to LeBron James and the Miami Heat.
Anthony’s big shots at MSG in 2012 will always be a great memory and “Easter Egg” of joy for the diehard (and probably depressed) Knicks fan.