When the Knicks are down 29, there are two different things a coach can do. Because remember, at that point it's 2-1 in the series. You have a game: you lose here, and it's 2-2. You have another few games to play. It doesn't end here. You're literally down by 29. At this point, pull the starters. Rest Brunson. Let Mitch Robinson's pinky recover. Right, you know, there are two different things to do. You could give in, throw in the towel, and live to fight another day, or you could decide that the dog is still in the fight, and then all we need to do is figure out how to win.
Coming out for the third quarter, he tells them something: not only are we still going to play, we're going to fight. He tells him something very important. Mike Brown says, "Let's cut it to 15 or 17. Then we give ourselves a chance for the fourth quarter." Well, that's exactly what happened. In the third quarter, they cut it to 15. Still a huge chasm against a team as good as the Spurs. And then in the fourth quarter, down literally to the very last individual second. At 1.2 seconds, the tip comes in, my friends. I want you to think about this for one second.
Sometimes when we mess something up or when our chips are down, we, number one, have to decide that we're not giving up. And I think that one of the things sports does for us is give us a lens into the general fight that human beings have. Not that we're playing basketball on an elite level. We're Jewish people. We're too short. We're not as athletically inclined, right? We own the team. We don't play for the team. But, my friends, sports is really, if you break it down, all about a striving for excellence, an attempt at perfection, a pushing no matter what, an ability not only to give it your all physically, but also not to let the other team get in your head mentally.
You know what happens when the coach says in the third quarter, "We're down 29; let's cut it to zero, to no points"? You know what happens? Every player on the team is chucking up threes from fairytale land. And you know what happens? Not only do they not make up 29 points in the quarter; they don't make up 15 either. The desperation, the unrealistic nature, not understanding the lay of the land and what's there, and not reading the room mean that nothing positive happens.
So, my friends, I think one of the lessons we learn over here is about realistic teshuvah (repentance), understanding what happens when things go wrong and recognizing that not giving up doesn't mean achieving everything in one shot. It means chipping away and chipping away and chipping away. And first they go on a 10-0 run. And then they go on a 17-4 run. It was just remarkable to see head in the game, play by play, defense on one side, offense on the other, until eventually they put themselves in a position that even a miss becomes a putback.