When the game began Saturday night it appeared that the Knicks wanted to make history rather than avoid it. With a lottery-bound roster the Knicks looked like a championship contender, at least for four minutes and 52 seconds.
In that span the Knicks raced out a 14-3 lead, pumping up the Madison Square Garden crowd as Dennis Smith Jr. lobbed a pass off the backboard for a DeAndre Jordan dunk and then Jordan dunked in a missed shot. But history would tell you that this was not going to last.
The history the Knicks were bound for was a far more ignominious one.