There was a moment for Karl-Anthony Towns when he flexed for the crowd at Madison Square Garden on Friday night and the 19,812 fans roared with him. But the real affirmation may have come two nights later when he was shown on the scoreboard at Yankee Stadium, standing as the crowd provided a loud ovation.

Maybe at some other time he might have been timid to stand and see the reaction from the crowd. But with his postseason performance there was little risk that Towns, along with his Knicks teammates, would receive anything but a hero's welcome. Beat the Boston Celtics, come up with huge moments in the playoffs, and the city is yours.

Although Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart and even OG Anunoby, who arrived at midseason last year, already had been embraced in the hearts of the fan base with their play last season, it was moments in this postseason that have allowed Towns and Mikal Bridges to find their place, too.

“Any time you can do something special here in the city in New York, obviously it’s magnified by five,” Towns said. “To find success here in New York is something that is not for everyone, and it’s something that is very difficult to do. For us to be in this position shows that we stepped up to the challenge and we’re also at the benefit of having amazing teammates and support systems, both of us. . . .  There’s still more work to do, but it’s sometimes good to take a step back and appreciate where you're at and where you came from, and also understand where you still have to go.”

Towns grew up close enough to all of this to have an understanding of what it means to be a fan of the Knicks and the Yankees — he was both. While he was in a suite at Yankee Stadium, he is aware that it is the sound of Bleacher Creatures that determine your place in the city.

“It was special,” he said. “Grew up a Yankees fan, diehard Yankees fan, to be respected by New York that way, it means everything. Respect is everything to me. It just makes you want to work harder.”

There is assuredly more to do with the Knicks and Indiana Pacers set to begin the Eastern Conference finals Wednesday at Madison Square Garden — where Aaron Judge would certainly get the applause that Towns got, but maybe Juan Soto wouldn’t yet.

But the Knicks have proven something in reaching this level of the postseason, a place where the franchise had not been in 25 years, and Towns and Bridges earned a stature that only this sort of achievement merits. Look at the rafters at Madison Square Garden and of the nine retired numbers seven of them are part of the two championships the franchise has won. Win eight more games and who knows what the future will look like in the rafters?

A long way to go for the team and for the newcomers. Towns and Bridges both had achieved plenty in their careers before joining the Knicks this season, but as Towns said, doing it in New York is different. For Towns there are the high-scoring nights and the plays rare for a 7-footer, hitting three-pointers from nearly half court. But for Bridges it has come in huge defensive plays, providing the clinching steal in both Game 1 and 2 in Boston.

"I think in today’s world, the way the media is, and I don’t mean this as a knock on toward you, but I just think social media, people want to judge very quickly, and often times, it’s after a play or two plays,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “With Mikal, it’s been a steady climb the whole year. I said this from the beginning. It wasn’t like he is a rookie and you don’t know how good he can be. This guy has got a great body of work. Been a terrific player in the league for a long time. So you knew that part of it. This guy has been in the Finals and had a significant role in the Finals, not a minor role, a very significant role..”

The confidence was already there, in their own hearts and in the trust of their teammates. But that part might be enhanced when they come through in the biggest spots.

“Maybe just the trust between my coaches and teammates,” Bridges said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. Trusting them on both sides of the ball, getting trust from them, and knowing they’re confident, it gives me more confidence.”

“Everyone in this locker room already knew how special Mikal is,” Towns said. “Maybe people on the outside were late to notice, but our locker room's known who Mikal Bridges was and how important he was to our team. So It’s not a shock to any of us that he’s gotten some of the biggest stops, I would say, in Knicks history at the most perfect times, and he’s shown his worth. For people on the outside that were late to the Mikal Bridges fan club, we’ve been in.”

Still, Towns should know from his own childhood here, earning it from your teammates is different than earning it from the fans. But now, on the Yankee Stadium scoreboard and in the streets of the city, their place is secure — at least as long as they come through in this next series.