After getting their first (and only) win of this playoffs in Game 1 against Cleveland due to J.B. Bickerstaff forgetting how to speak for 20 minutes or so, so he was unable to tell anyone that he wanted Cedi Osman either out of the game or just not playing Jalen Brunson 1-on-1, the Knicks remain in Cleveland for their fruitless attempt to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the series (well, “commanding” for most teams, unlike the Knicks, for whom a 2-0 lead would be meaningless).
In big news if the Knicks weren’t inherently screwed, Josh Hart will probably play tonight (he will only not play if he has a problem in warm-ups. Basically, he’s in a lot of pain but he’s managing it, so it’s just a question of whether the pain gets worse during warm-ups. He’s already prepared to play through his current levels of pain). That’s great, as he and Jalen Brunson were on a whole other level than anyone else on the court in Game 1 (outside of perhaps Donovan Mitchell and Isiah Hartenstein) in terms of just not seeming overwhelmed by the drama of the moment. They were calm, cool and collected. It’s great to see. At least it would be great to see if the Knicks had any chance of winning this series.
Let’s go, Knicks, not that it matters!