The Knicks need a win to avoid making history.

Even if the Knicks go on to lose this series against the Heat, I've heard a lot of fans say it'd mean a lot for New York to win at least a game. It's been more than two full series and over a decade since the Knicks last won a playoff game, with sweeps against Boston last year and the Nets in '04, and a lost series to the Raptors in 2001 that included the last postseason victory for the franchise. Not only is that eleven-year stretch of futility a sore spot for Knicks fans and the reason I still haven't started puberty, it's approaching a historic mark. Via Marc Berman:

A Knicks loss tonight will tie them with the Grizzlies for the NBA’s all-time playoff futility record of 12 straight postseason defeats — poetically right in Heat president Pat Riley’s abode. They haven’t won a playoff game since 2001.

And, just to rub it in, nobody knew the Knicks were flirting with unfortunate history (at least I didn't. I am nobody?) until the above fact appeared in the post-game notes furnished by the Heat for the media on Sunday. Thanks a lot, guys. Thanks for the INFO.

What the Heat don't know, though, is that these Knicks haven't lost consecutive games under Mike Woodson, a streak that runs back to late March. That trend should override the other one, earning the Knicks a victory tonight in Miami and at least two more in this series. Fancy that! Guaranteed wins! We don't even need to watch! Hoorayyyy hahaahadshfadhsfa