By MARC BERMAN
There are two guys most upset this Sunday morning – Larry Brown and Bulls GM Jim Paxson.
Brown’s coaching job last season looks more horrifying by the minute. Paxson may have to soon cancel his trip to Secaucus, owner of what many figured would be the Knicks’ lottery pick, no longer a player in the Greg Oden Sweepstakes.
The Knicks are the eighth seed today, one game out of seventh, with the Pacers fading fast. If they can get David Lee and Quentin Richardson back, the Knicks may be hard to push away.
Living and dying with the fluctuating play of Steve Francis is not the way the Knicks want to go about it. You’ll rarely see a player who can be so great and so terrible within the blink of an eye. Stevie Francis’ 3-pointer at the buzzer allows the Knicks to savor these next three days before their showdown against first-place Toronto Wednesday.
Their spontaneous celebration on the court last night – all the hugging and jumping and laughing – was 17 months of frustration being let out. They all knew what the victory meant.
But they will need Quentin, a late back scratch last night, or a reinforcement perhaps. They will need Lee. If they get them, the Knicks may be opening the playoffs in Detroit in late April.
These guys got heart, a darn good coach and, as we figured in training camp, a driving motivating force in proving last season was Brown’s doing.