Knicks, Rangers giving New York title hopes for first time in years

It’s no secret that it’s been a long time (over a decade) since a sports team from the city of New York (or New Jersey – heck, even just the tri-state area) has won a championship.

The last time a parade showered this town came in 2012 and the lack of postseason success since in “the greatest city in the world” has become quite noticeable, especially with dynasties forming left and right across all four major sports, and other cities throughout the country continuing to leapfrog New York.

Simply put, the Canyon of Heroes needs a hero. Maybe even two.

Fortunately, two teams appear to be up for the task this year: the Knicks and Rangers.

The Knicks, coming off a wild win against the Detroit Pistons on Monday night, enter Tuesday as the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 35-23 record and just three games separating them from the No. 2 seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. (The current No. 1 seed Boston Celtics have begun to run away with the conference and appear to be headed toward the No. 1 overall seed.)

Meanwhile, fresh off a 10-game winning streak, the Rangers lead the Metropolitan Division by seven points with their 39-17-3 record and look poised to make a deep run in the playoffs this season after their disappointing first-round exit last year against the cross-town rival Devils. (Don’t forget, they made it to the conference finals two seasons ago with a young team before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup-winning Tampa Bay Lightning.)

And despite the Blueshirts having their winning streak snapped on Sunday, both they and the Knicks have now had winning streaks of nine games or more in the same season for the first time in over 50 years. The last time this happened came during the 1972-73 season – the same year the Knicks won their last championship and the Rangers made it to the conference finals.

The Rangers’ winning streak of 10 games tied a franchise record, which they had achieved twice before in 1939-40 (when they won the Stanley Cup) and 1972-73 (when they lost in the conference finals) while the Knicks’ winning streak came earlier in the season, happening between Jan. 17 and Feb. 3 where they won nine straight and was aided by a trade for OG Anunoby and a healthy roster.

In fact, New York won five consecutive games immediately following the acquisition of Anunoby on Dec. 30 and won 15 of its next 17 games, which included the nine-game winning streak (tied for the sixth-longest in franchise history).

The Knicks’ longest run of consecutive wins goes back to 1969-70 when they won 18 straight the same year they won their first national title (they had another streak of nine straight wins that year, too).

More recently, the Knicks also won nine consecutive games just last year when they made it to the conference semifinals. They had 13 straight wins in 2012-13 the year they finished first in the Atlantic division (second in the conference) and won their first playoff series since 1999-2000.

All of that to say: winning streaks usually equal success in the postseason. Perhaps that’s stating the obvious. After all, good teams put together winning streaks and good teams tend to make noise in the playoffs.

However, this speaks to the larger point about New York sports. This season, with these teams and these streaks, comes at a time when the city of New York is desperate for winning.

The Mets and Yankees are coming off hugely disappointing seasons and although each has had their share of talented and exciting teams recently, neither has been able to come out on top in almost two decades.

That may change soon enough with the Yanks among the preseason favorites to win the World Series this year after adding Juan Soto during the offseason and the Mets improving their farm system and still having the richest owner in baseball, but for now, it’s still wait and see.

The Jets and Giants were among the worst teams in the NFL last season and each has more questions than answers on their respective rosters that need to be addressed during the draft and the offseason while the Nets, Islanders and Devils are all varying degrees of bad to average this season.

It’s been 12 years since a team from the tri-state area won a championship when the Giants won the Super Bowl in 2012. Before them, it was the Yankees in 2009.

Since then, the closest team to lift a trophy has been the Mets in 2015 when they lost to the Kansas City Royals in the World Series in five games.

So, even though the Knicks and Rangers both still have a long way to go this season before either team even thinks about winning a title, the fact that they’re both in the conversation – in the same year, no less – gives the city of New York a rejuvenation of hope, a reason to cheer and a pathway back to relevancy.