sport news Knicks and Rangers are flying in the playoffs, Yankees are transformed by Juan ... trends now
It has been 12 long and painful years since the city of New York last celebrated a sporting championship. Yet with seven months to go, hopes of that grim statistic ending in 2024 are slowly building.
The Giants' win over Tom Brady's Patriots in the 2012 Super Bowl marked both a historic triumph and the beginning of a miserable drought for the Big Apple. That victory, when Ahmad Bradshaw broke New England hearts in the dying seconds, was the last time one of its sports franchises proved the best in its respective field.
This year, however, that could finally change.
Across all major sports there are more than enough reasons for New Yorkers to be quietly confident of their chances; the Knicks and Rangers are going strong in the NBA and NHL playoffs, the Yankees look a team transformed early on this season and the Jets are gearing up for what they hope will be Aaron Rodgers' first full campaign. Even in MLS, where both the Red Bulls and New York City disappointed last term, things look to be on the up.
So could sporting glory finally return to New York this year? Dailymail.com takes a closer look at their chances.
New York's last sporting title came when Eli Manning and the Giants won the 2012 Super Bowl
But there is newfound hope in the Big Apple of that grim statistic finally changing this year
Knicks flying high
The 2023-24 campaign has already been one to remember for Knicks fans, with Jalen Brunson inspiring the team to one of its greatest-ever regular seasons.
For the first time since 2012-13 New York recorded an incredible 50 regular-seasons wins to storm into the playoffs as a leading contender to go all the way and clinch the NBA Championship, a title the Big Apple has gone without for 51 years.
Brunson, who finished fifth in this year's MVP voting, has been nothing short of sensational, putting up career best numbers with an average of 28.7 points on 48 percent shooting and 6.7 assists per game.
And neither the Knicks or their star point guard are done yet. After cruising past the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs, Tom Thibodeau's men are now 2-0 up in their Conference Semifinal against the Indiana Pacers.
Two more victories will set up a date of destiny with either the Boston Celtics or the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference showpiece, a stage they have not reached since the 1998-99 season.
Whisper it quietly, but Madison Square Garden stands a strong chance of hosting its first NBA Finals this century.
Jalen Brunson has helped the Knicks enjoy one of the best seasons in their history, and they're still going strong in the playoffs
Rangers on the rise
Similarly to the Knicks, Madison Square Garden's other sporting tenants has high hopes of pulling off a feat they have not managed in the last decade.
It has been exactly 10 years since the Rangers reached the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals, and exactly 20 since they lifted the famous trophy aloft.
Yet also to mirror their basketball counterparts, they find themselves 3-0 ahead in their second-round playoff battle with the Carolina Hurricanes, having swept the Washington Capitals in the first.
The Rangers, who won 82 of their 160 regular-season games, were sizeable underdogs heading into the series with Carolina, one of the top Stanley Cup contenders throughout the campaign.
Though after two straight wins at the
