While the New York Knicks are relevant again, filmmaker/cheerleader Spike Lee is trying too hard to be as well. It’s wrong to question Spike’s fanhood, but he has to Do the Right Thing and stop taking credit for the Orange & Blue’s most spirited play in nearly a decade.

After all, the Sportscenter interviews, repeated efforts for mid-game camera attention, and his inexplicably unpunished storming of the Garden floor (at the end of Wednesday’s instant classic against Boston) are quite excessive for someone that’s had less of an actual impact on this year’s team than behemoth Eddy Curry.

The Knicks owe their 16-12 start to GM Donnie Walsh, who transformed the roster this summer by luring early MVP frontrunner Amar’e Stoudemire, point guard Raymond Felton (who’s enjoying his post-Larry Brown freedom more than Andy Dufresne after his escape from Shawshank State Prison), and high-impact rookie Landry Fields (the unquestioned steal of the draft).

These three acquisitions, and improved play from Wilson Chandler (a guy who does everything well, without doing anything great) and Danilo Gallinari (his back troubles look like they are finally behind him), have made the Knicks one of the most surprising and exciting squads in the Eastern Conference. The Mecca of Basketball is responding.

Spike Lee should be fired up. Who isn’t? Knicks fans are finally checking out of rehab from years of Isiah Thomas/Scott Layden “lack of substance” abuse. Still, it’s in the team’s best interest for the the director of Inside Man to chill out.

As Dan Klores’s documentary Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks points out, Spike Lee may have created the most infamous Knick-killer of all-time. Would the greatest Pacer ever (although I consider myself more of a Rik Smits guy) have gone off for 8 points in 8.9 seconds in the 1995 Conference Semi-Finals if it weren’t for Spike’s well-documented jawing?

When special competitors like Reggie Miller or LeBron James (as we saw in Miami’s MSG rout on Friday) are harassed by Spike, they paradoxically become more focused. Jack Nicholson may occasionally have his Laker outbursts, but his team has certainly proven they can back his words up. The Knicks have not, and Spike Lee needs to “handle the truth” and acknowledge that he lacks his West Coast equivalent’s credibility and cool.

Spike Lee certainly has more entertainment chops than Matthew Modine (a C-lister who is now famous simply for going to Knicks games), but he has to stop confusing his courtside seat with his director’s chair. Although he may have “coached” Ray Allen in He Got Game, none of his creative heckling could stop Jesus Shuttlesworth from punishing the Knicks during their heartbreaking Celtic “joint” this week.

The Knicks are not a championship contender (a single playoff win would be a nice start), but they are certainly on the right track. With Carmelo Antho-NY rumors as common as Yao Ming foot injuries, Mike D’Antoni’s team may soon become even more intriguing. Sadly, Spike Lee will not.

And, well, if you need that reminder, here’s the Reggie Miller vs. Spike Lee moment in history: