Watching the Knicks lose to the Magic the other night was torturous enough, so spare a thought for the New York Times’ Richard Sandomir, who saw the game twice — once in its entirety, then later that evening as part of MSG’s edited “Knicks In 60”.
Slicing Knicks games to 60 minutes does give MSG an extra hour of programming. And to the extent that the shortened Knicks games eliminate the worst segments of odious basketball, MSG is performing a public service that should be honored by mental-health professionals.
MSG somehow found enough of the Knicks’ lamentable 105-90 loss to Orlando on Wednesday night to preserve in the 60-minute format, but viewers did miss the MSG analyst Walt Frazier’s malapropism in the second quarter when he told his partner, Mike Breen, that he had a fear of heights, or, as he incorrectly called it, “acrimonia,” perhaps a cousin to arterial monochromia, the pseudo-disease that Ralph Kramden (above) believed he had.
The most revealing editing came in the removal of a stretch of the fourth quarter, starting when the Knicks trailed, 80-66, with 9:41 left, and ending with the Knicks behind by 98-86 with 2:37 left. Thanks to the MSG editors and social workers, viewers missed the Knicks’ collapsing and falling behind by as many as 21 points.