Throughout the entirety of his first season coaching the New York Knicks, Mike Brown maintained that facing adversity early would ultimately benefit his team. The coach eventually began to draw the ire of fans, as the team kept facing adversity later in the season than many were comfortable with.
But Game 4 of the NBA Finals was at least the second time this postseason that the Knicks proved Brown entirely right. Their opening victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers included a 22-point comeback, but it wasn't supposed to be possible to inflict that fate on either one of the Western Conference Finalists.
Even then, it feels unfair to call the greatest single-game comeback in league history unbelievable. This is who the Knicks have been trying to tell us they are, all postseason long. Brown says he doesn't think this, or any, team, should count on being able to flip a switch. But his Knicks have ironically spent more than a month showing fans across the world that they have one – and they know how and when to use it.
Knicks' playoff dominance didn't end with their 13-game win streak
The San Antonio Spurs earned The Finals spot opposite the Knicks after a grueling series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The WCF was supposed to be the "varsity" series (hello, Old Takes Exposed) but wound up producing the squad down 3-1 to the best in the East.
It's unlikely that Brown was hoping his Knicks would draw the most difficult matchup from round to round. He doesn't present as dedicated enough to that cause to irrationally ask his landlord to raise his rent, to motivate him to work harder. But, again, he's been enjoying the Knicks' time in the face of adversity all season.
He even told reporters at Madison Square Garden before Game 3 that he was interested in learning how top members of the organization like Leon Rose and James Dolan responded to adversity, per the NBA. He praised both.
Brown has taken difficult coaching jobs, from Team Nigeria to the Sacramento Kings. He's unafraid of adversity if it stands between him and his ultimate goal: leading a team to the highest level of success.
That could be why he had no issue leading the Knicks through the adversity of a coaching change, even after the organization's first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 25 years. The move put inherently high expectations on Brown, his staff, and his roster. They all welcomed it, understanding that it was the necessary first step up a life-changing mountain.
Brown's Knicks have been building up to this moment all season
Brown's group dealt with the adversity of a harsh NBA Cup hangover poorly. It was most players' first time winning a trophy at the professional level, and Dolan followed it up by guaranteeing an NBA Finals appearance on WFAN's airwaves.
The implicit expectations of their contending status and coaching change had been converted entirely into explicit ones, and it may have contributed to the group floundering for a few weeks to the tune of a 2-9 stretch.
From February 1 and on, though, the Knicks had a top defense in the NBA and its best pick-and-roll duo by points per direct action in Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. And the adversity of the 2-1 lead the Atlanta Hawks built over them forced them to abandon the final shreds of ego they had carried with them up to that point.
Even OG Anunoby, the tip-in hero of Game 4, strained his hamstring just 20 days before Game 4 against the Spurs. His path to postseason glory has been far from smooth, but he's trekked it nonetheless.
The Knicks started the NBA Finals on the road. They won both of those games. They dropped Game 3 at home, falling flat in the focus department in The Finals' return to MSG after 27 long years.
The Spurs came out in Game 4 looking to head back home with things all tied up. They made that happen for the first three quarters, amassing well over a 20-point lead.
You know the rest, though. That's because you know these Knicks. It's only time the rest of the league joins in on the fun.
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