In any great horror/thriller film, the villain is often the best part. Hannibal Lecter had a measly 16 minutes of screen time in ‘The Silence of the Lambs,” but Anthony Hopkins chilling Oscar performance still gives me goosebumps to this day.
On Sunday, Trae Young delivered a frightful playoff debut and ordered the Knicks with a side of fava beans and a Chianti.
Young slashed his way to 32 points, 10 assists, and 7 rebounds in 35 minutes. A dominant performance, that I’m sure left Knicks fans with the same feeling as Clarice in this encounter with Lecter – absolutely terrified.
However, while Clarice seemed up for Lecter’s challenge, the moment to play hero looked too much for the Knicks regular season MVP, as Julius Randle flat-out looked BAD. Randle would finish with 15 points on 6/23 shooting (missing the potential game winner) and a -5 point differential when on the floor. Maybe Randle is waiting for his Buffalo Bill (more on this below) to bring out the best in him.
The game itself played out like any great thiller would. A riveting back and forth between two pretty evenly matched teams. Atlanta would come out to a lead and then the Knicks would storm right back. It was like watching a game of cat and mouse, as no team would lead by more than 6 points in the fourth. Ultimately, we know how the end played out… Rose tied it with 9.8 left… then this…
Like any great villain, Trae Young waited until the final moments to give the fatal blow… THE SILENCE OF THE FANS…
We were treated to an absolute classic on Sunday. Let’s hope the rest of the series treats us better than the subsequent Hannibal Lecter movies*, and let’s really pray I don’t have to write a post comparing any Hawks player to this…
Ha! Not the clip you thought I was going to give you was it?!
Cheer up Knicks fans, while the villain was the best part of game 1, eventually they all go down. Knicks win in 7, in horrifyingly-thrilling fashion.
*For the film nerds on me not mentioning ‘Manhunter.’ I’m well aware of it being the first film, and you can argue if Brian Cox was a better Hannibal all day long, but I’ll take Hopkins… Check out the Ringer’s incredible “The Rewatchables” podcast for a deep dive on the Micheal Mann classic if you want to indulge yourselves.
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