Knicks relying on their greatest strength with glory just one win away

SAN ANTONIO — It’s right there. It’s right freakin’ there. The Knicks’ first championship since 1973 — and only third in franchise history — is right there.Etching their place in New York legend is right there.

Glory is right there. The Knicks just have to reach out and grab it. They carry their 3-1 NBA Finals lead into Game 5 at the Frost Bank Center for Game 5 on Saturday, just one step away from immortality. “The biggest thing is everybody has to stay present,” coach Mike Brown said on Friday.“You have to be present.

You can’t think about the outcome.It’s about the process, the next play, the next play, the next play. “Sometimes you can think about the process, and it not work out.

But when you’re playing against other great teams especially, that’s how you have to take it because anybody’s mind can start wandering when you think about the outcome.” The Knicks this postseason have bludgeoned their opponents in closeout games.Between Game 6 against the Hawks in the first round, Game 4 against the 76ers in the second round and Game 4 against the Cavaliers in the conference finals, the Knicks won by a combined 118 points. “I’ve said this multiple times, the hardest game to win is the one that ends someone’s season,” Karl-Anthony Towns said.

“So we’ve got to be our best version tomorrow.” Despite Towns’ sentiment, the Knicks have made closeout games look like their easiest, not their hardest games.By the end of the first three rounds, they completely sucked the soul out of their opponents and left them with little will to keep competing.

They left no doubt. There is one characteristic that has given them that ability. “Their level of maturity,” Brown said.“Obviously, we have some veteran guys on the team.

But you can be a veteran and still have a little bit of immaturity about you, as we all know.From top to bottom, this group is pretty mature.

That rubs off on the rest of the group.It makes ...