The strange reality that Knicks's hope is already gone

Wednesday is the opening night for the Knicks, which means Madison Square Garden regulars will begin their 41-night routines at and around Penn Plaza, which means the City Game will be officially back in the city, which will allow New York basketball fans to renew all the old habits.

Well, with one exception.

Everyone seems to miss out on the part of the season that consists of being wrong. Which is probably for the best, for all concerned. It's so easy to be stopped by the illusion of opening night, after all. Knicks and Celtics start from scratch. Same for the Knicks and Warriors, Knicks and Sixers, Knicks and Raptors …

In recent years, this has always been enough to cover the opening night with a sense of hope, however foolish or fleeting. But it's a new time and a new tone. The Knicks have entered for the first time in the long game since the mid-1960s. They are not hesitant. And not just the costumes.

"We have a young core," said Frank Ntilikina, a freshly named star, who will be hiring for the moment in an interesting three-headed backyard with Tim Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke. "We will go out and be fearless and play with a lot of energy and run the field and play a very good defense and try to win games."

For those who keep the score at home, the young second-year French student has scored five goals here, and the No. 5 was still supposed to be the # 1: win a few games. This has always been # 1 around the Knicks, even in years where logic has told you that there was no way that to happen, when the reason has always been criticized by the results.

This is the new normal around the Knicks.

"Victories and defeats will take care of themselves," said David Fizdale. It should be the new slogan of the Knicks, the way the Yankees once proposed "Anytime, a great moment", as we had the Mets. "The magic is back," in the day. Put it on the letterhead of the company. Attach it permanently to the garden tent.

Fizdale, the first-year Knicks head coach, will be responsible for selling this project for the season, an 82-field minefield that looks like 1970. and 1973. There's no question.

Kristaps Porzingis is still missing and no matter how happy the Knicks are, the fact that they did not choose his option means that he is less motivated today than he is at it. Did yesterday to think about the acceleration of his re-education and his return. . In any case, it may be better, because it is at the moment a question mark of 7 feet 3 inches, even if it is built like an exclamation point.

And the list is razor. There is no way around that. There is no pretension here. The Knicks have a group of friendly guys who will be playing games to play basketball. It appears that there will be at least one defensive effort that has been missing for almost 20 years. There are many players who have things to prove this year.

But if you're looking for guys to be there when the Knicks update their team's credo and make an absolute victory again … well, how many of them do you see? Two? Three?

And again: that's how it should be. That's how it must be. We know everything about the difficulty of rebuilding in New York, which is why we see it so rarely. But it's a perfect storm for the Knicks. They are so far behind the top three teams in their own division – (Question: Of the 12 games that they will play against Boston, Philly and Toronto, what can be their best record? 2-10? 1-11? ) – trying something other than a complete rebuild, especially with Porzingis on the go, makes no sense.

So buy. Sit. Relax. Have fun in the garden. Enjoy these 12 to 4 stolen races when the Knicks will make you dream a little. Give Kevin Knox a huge ovation on his first visit Wednesday night. It's not as much fun as worrying about every competitor's game, no. But you will need less Alka-Seltzer to cross it. So here is.