The timing could not have been better for NBA TV to have replaced MSG Network on Time Warner Cable. Last weekend, NBA TV featured a 30-minute feature on legendary Knicks forward Bernard King. Hosted by Bruce Beck (who was a sportscaster with MSG Network before he eventually landed his current post at WNBC), it was a terrific history of the most electric (and consistently excellent) player the Knicks have seen in the last 25 years.

Then NBA TV showed the December 25, 1984 Knicks vs. Nets game, in which King scored 60 points and the Knicks lost. I was at that game, so it's been fun to watch this broadcast. All elements of the original MSG Network coverage have been preserved--the pre-game show with Sam Rosen, the graphics including the old MSG logo, the music, and all the commentary of Jim Karvellas and Butch Beard. (Nine years later, I would leave the Garden stunned again when Charles Smith missed three consecutive layups and the Knicks lost a critical Game Five to the Chicago Bulls in the NBA playoffs.)