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2025-26 Game Thread: Knicks @ Celtics – Never Too Early to Kick Some Celtic Butt

The Knicks head to Boston for an early afternoon butt-whooping of their closest rival in the NBA Eastern Conference.

The New York Knicks haven’t won the Atlantic Division in, well, let’s just say that it has been FAR too long since they’ve last won the Atlantic Division. They’ve been the #2 overall seed in the Eastern Conference recently, and yet still not won their division, so this year is a PERFECT opportunity to just win the fucking division already, and the stupid Celtics are in their way.

So this would be a great new opportunity for a statement win.

Let’s go, Knicks!

Winning eight made 58 feel still kind of great!

270 replies on “2025-26 Game Thread: Knicks @ Celtics – Never Too Early to Kick Some Celtic Butt”

Damn just read KAT needed 16 stitches and is wearing goggles today. OG being out sucks but should be fun seeing Alvarado making his Knicks debut. Shamet starting.

OG is in some ways our most indispensable player. Not optimisitc about this game.

The good news is that I have finished my 4-week sobriety streak, so either way, I will be in fine form!

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watching the above the rim broadcast on espn unlimited, tyler was just spending some time with jose talking about some stuff…

come on down mister alvarado, this is your life…

jalen is in jose’s ear now…jose must be so jacked right now, let’s go…

jose: whatcha want me to do

jalen: play your game, you’ll see

reminds me me of mitch before the season: just got to go out there and ball…

Bridges joining the awkward layup clinic but I love it. What a great cut with Shamet under pressure.

playing rugby out there, c’mon refs…

maybe the most homer thing eva to say – BUTT, sure feels like the refs hose us with the whistle…

good question pepper, who are today’s best nba coaches?

seems like more good young ones than the old guys like spo, carlisle and kerr…

Kool Mo D being able to contribute at all against high-level competition is probably my personal biggest surprise of the season.

So far so good on all other fronts, Mitch looks much better than he did against Detroit.

what, are you all being more conscientious family members, friends, and partners – more posting please 😜

started to feel like raz from back in the day: where the hell did everyone go?

kool mo d seems to at least try to communicate well on defense during the initial offensive push…

not much of a rebounder though, yet…

First quarter offense clicking, defense has energy but not always smart. Boston missed a lot of good shots and had plenty of drives to the paint.

I don’t like the way JB is treated at all. He gets one whistle in every four or five fouls. This happens pretty much every game. The Knicks have to say something to the league about that.

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hmmmmm, friend to all cats everywhere – knew your nicks(?) probably frightful that all us sites have become palantir’d…probably correct…

“The Knicks are running an offensive clinic today,” has not been said by an announcer since …

I just cannot stand the voice of Stan Van Gundy. It’s not quite as bad as “I want to choke my coach” PJ Carlisimo, but it’s at least 50% of the way there.

The Alvarado flop was a make up call for the initial push off, so no one should feel bad about it

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The Alvarado flop was a make up call for the initial push off, so no one should feel bad about it

Manhattan makes, Brooklyn takes!

Considering how blatant a miss of a call that was on Brunson getting fouled on a 3, I’ll take that.

Refs, per usual, are atrocious

Bad stretch. Kinda started by Josh being called for that 3rd foul, he needs to be more heady than to reach in off-ball there when he already has two…

I don’t mind the intentional fouling so much, let’s figure it out now before the playoffs…

especially in the first half of games…

Watching Mitch try to shoot free throws feels like eavesdropping on someone’s therapy appointment

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LOVE this new version of KAT…

his bad offense at times was killing us on defense, now that he’s dialed that shit back, it automatically benefits our defense…

keep on rebounding KAT…

Did Boston not have a timeout there? They should have definitely taken it if they had one, right?

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is the broadcast team not facing the floor?

It’s a brutal listening experience.

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is the broadcast team not facing the floor?

there may be some venues where the announcing crew works from an elevated position – above the court…harder to see maybe…

come to think of it – there really haven’t been many camera shots of the announcers…who knows…

Young Raven disaster last night — all good, but didn’t get to sleep until seriously late, woke up to bitch about what I’d listed as a 4 pm start (who goes up against the Super Bowl), read the posts and discover it’s an existing game thread, catch the Alvarado Experience with my coffee. Nice start to the day…

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we’d probably never know if they did…

be a nice game for mo to have a productive career high in minutes, in a team win…

don’t wanna hope too hard…

“Boston would do well right here to get some stops and scores.” (As opposed to?)

Are you not entertained?

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best of luck raven, most of the time you’re only really as good as they are…

Amen to that Geo. Hope all is well with Raven, Jr.

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I just cannot stand the voice of Stan Van Gundy. It’s not quite as bad as “I want to choke my coach” PJ Carlisimo, but it’s at least 50% of the way there.

Oh my Lordy, it IS PJ CARLISIMO!

Choke that man #Sprewell

All good. Flat tire way up in the mountains late at night in the middle of nowhere. As they say, no blood, no foul. However also no sleep.

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So Brunson gets clearly fouled on a 3 before and nothing and we get called for every loose ball

You gotta challenge that. Whether it works or not, it’s too big of a play NOT to challenge. It would mean five fouls for Hart, and obviously it would give the Celtics the ball down four vs. four fouls and Knicks having the ball up four.

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Dammit. Fucking Sheierman looks like he has at least three domesticated squirrels doing important things around the house.

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classic family went on vacation without you game. at first too busy gorging on the couch potato life to even notice. but before long all you can think about is how much you miss og anunoby.

“I’m visiting my mom, how is the game going?”

Pretty good, we were up like 17 at one point but the Celts quickly whittled it down, mostly been in the 5-10pt range.

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I hate the 28-foot KAT shots. He does that a lot, and they seem to rarely go in. Take a step in and shoot it, you moron.

All good. Flat tire way up in the mountains late at night in the middle of nowhere.

baylor scheierman is exactly who i picture ripping you off to fix this problem in a mere three weeks while you rent a room above the diner

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Notice how that Shamet three, unlike the Brown, Brunson, and White threes, were in the flow of the offense. That’s such a big difference.

I am loving this response to the Celtics’ run. The Celtics, like in the playoffs, are just shooting too many threes while bricking all of their threes. If the threes aren’t dropping, change your shit up, dudes (or, well, don’t, of course, as I’m cool with them continuing to be stupid).

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Mitchell Robinson is such a game changer.

It’s basically, “If there is a loose ball, it WILL be rebounded by Robinson.”

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Shots wouldn’t go in at the beginning of the third, but we did keep the score low, we got stops. This is exactly what a good team needs to do.

It’s basically, “If there is a loose ball, it WILL be rebounded by Robinson.”

My take on it is always.

Q. How many Offensive Rebounds did Mitch get?

A. All of them

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What a response to the Celtics’ run. They just shut them the fuck up.

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Towns is just like Clarkson (note — not a compliment) — you know exactly when they decide they will shoot the ball no matter what.

What a statement ass-kicking. Fuck you, Celtics! Shoot another stupid three, assholes!

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Alvarado can definitely handle the ball. Not necessarily sure he can pass it. But still enjoying the experience so far.

I make fun of their stupid threes, but at this point, they really DO need to just start chucking threes each possession, right?

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I want KAT to put his Retro STAT 2013’s back on lol..I worry for his stitches on his drives. He’s kinda slow and awkward driving so I can see him getting bumped or smacked there easily

Surprise surprise a lineup with bridges as the best offensive player in the court can’t score 😔

You can’t have a much better “proof of concept” debut than Alvarado did here.

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The thing that I just can’t understand at ALL is why New Orleans just fucking DUMPED Alvarado. Like, what the fuck were they thinking? What a terrible organization.

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PJ Carlesimo with the least accurate observation about which team people from Brooklyn root for of all time

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You’re down 17, dummies, you have to chuck threes every possession.

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I love it when the other team misses every shot

And when that team is from Boston

Fuck the Celtics

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That was a nice fake by Alvarado to get Brunson a wide-open look, which doesn’t normally happen.

PJ Carlesimo with the least accurate observation about which team people from Brooklyn root for of all time

as a society, we may have been too harsh on sprewell after all

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as a society, we may have been too harsh on sprewell after all

Honestly, as insane as it was what Sprewell did at the time, you’ll note that a lot of NBA players sort of shrugged their shoulders when it happened.

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Other NBA players were much more concerned at the time about the 2×4 incident with Jerome Kersey than they were by the strangulations.

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This is a great bounce back performance with the defensive energy present throughout and defense working even when shots were not going in. You lean on your defense when your shots aren’t falling and we did that when we needed it today. It is performances like this that build up hope for the post-season. There is a load of really tough games coming up and we will need that kind of defense if we are to get through.

Yes, Boston missed a lot of threes today, but shooting is also a function of rhythm, and we never allowed that. If you are not in a rhythm, if you are “hurrying and worrying” as a Clyde says, then you miss shots that you normally make.

Today proved last game a fluke. Brunson slept walk through the Pistons game but was wide awake for this one. They definitely gave a shit here.

Back in second place

Did they just clinch the tiebreaker with Boston?

EDITED TO ADD: Nope, they are up 2-1 now, though.

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They play Boston one more time so not yet but Knicks have clinched tiebreaker already vs Cavs and Raptors.

Jose for two middling seconds is a win if he never plays another game for us. What a steal, pun intended.

Great win! Brown looked unstoppable for a minute there, but then we basically did to him what the pistons did to Brunson and they weren’t making shots.

Today proved last game a fluke.

Today proved nothing. It’s just one game. It’s just an indication we can beat good teams but we still have to show we can do this consistently, particularly away from MSG.

Brown looked unstoppable for a minute there, but then we basically did to him what the pistons did to Brunson

Mostly Diawara on my eye test. Hands up all night. Plus 10 pts on 4/4, 2/2 from three, 3 boards, 1 asst and 1 steal +22 —> highest on the team.

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although they’re not really explosive athletes, you can kind of dream on how eventually sprinkling in all of alvarado, deuce, and mo (plus josh) might have an outsized impact in offsetting the somewhat anodyne vibe that comes from some our main guys being either stoic or soft.

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What was nice was we were mostly good top to bottom.

Bridges quietly good, Josh loudly great, KAT with 11 pts but 10 rebounds and played within the game, Shamet with a crappy box score (1-5) but seemed like solid play, Cap being Cap (exclamation point), Mitch mitching, Mo going 4-4 and playing good D and diving onto the floor, The Alvarado Experience in full gear, Kolek screaming into the void. Even Dadiet did a few nice things. Only McCullar’s two shots at the end need reconsideration.

Jose for two middling seconds is a win if he never plays another game for us. What a steal, pun intended.

It’s truly BAFFLING how New Orleans was, like, “We gotta get this guy out of here.” He’s not even fucking old! He can EASILY be part of their rebuild. What in the fucking WORLD were they thinking here?

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So Leon has to figure out a way to lock Mo up with his full Bird rights, without killing the cap. It should be clear by now that he’s an extremely valuable player.

It’s scary to think what this Diawara kid will become if he keeps progressing at this pace in the coming years. I don’t recall anything like that before by such a low pick. He was 50th in the draft, I think.

although they’re not really explosive athletes,

This is my first real look at Diawara, and he looked much faster than I expected with basically no idle.

Ultimately I can see Mo sprinting out on the break (a bit) like Obi with our passers finding him.

although they’re not really explosive athletes, you can kind of dream on how eventually sprinkling in all of alvarado, deuce, and mo (plus josh) might have an outsized impact in offsetting the somewhat anodyne vibe that comes from some our main guys being either stoic or soft.

Slowly but surely we’ve built a small armada of motherfuckers

It’s truly BAFFLING how New Orleans was, like, “We gotta get this guy out of here.” He’s not even fucking old! He can EASILY be part of their rebuild. What in the fucking WORLD were they thinking here?

One of those situations that makes me think sometimes risking RFA is better than taking the best offer.

Credit where it’s due to Pelicans fans, they were not happy.

By the way, if I did my math right, Kolek now shooting 36.5 from three for the year. Not too shabby.

I don’t recall anything like that before by such a low pick.

Actually, I do! Manu Ginobili was 57th. Still, what a find Diawara may turn out to be! Time will tell.

That Pels thread is brutal. Forgot Dumars was orchestrating things there. Nuff said.

Today proved nothing. It’s just one game.

You can say the exact thing about Friday’s game at Pistons down OG and KAT and coming off a double OT game. Once again, we shouldn’t be putting too much stock into how we perform in the regular season against our top east rivals because it will vary each game. Sometimes we’ll look great against them (today) and other times we’ll get embarrassed (Friday). Long as we’re healthy going into playoffs, I like our chances against anyone – even the Pistons who I know we’ll adjust to like we did the Celtics when they embarrassed us during last regular season only for us to beat them in the playoffs. This is the same playoff-tested group with arguably a better bench this time around

Didn’t get to see this one but it seems that Alvarado played his butt off. That roster spot was being occupied by Yabu’s fat do nothing ass just mere days ago.

The thing I figured out just today, when he was standing next to some other guys, is that Diawara is huge. He’s a legit 6’9. Mentally I thought he was more like 6’7.

He has a 7’4 wingspan. He’s an actual pterodactyl out there and I love it.

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Always great to win against the Celtics, and even better if we contain them to less than 90 pts.
Only bad thing about this game was that i had things to do and couldn’t watch.

If there were a redraft today, Mo would go in the lottery, no?

I can’t tell lottery or not, but I suspect he’d go in the first round for sure.

In any case, no reason he should have not been picked earlier, nothing he is doing wasn’t right there in his scouting film. His age, measurables, motor, court vision, and finishing skill with both hands were by themselves worth a late first flyer.

You can say the exact thing about Friday’s game at Pistons down OG and KAT and coming off a double OT game. Once again, we shouldn’t be putting too much stock into how we perform in the regular season against our top east rivals because it will vary each game. Sometimes we’ll look great against them (today) and other times we’ll get embarrassed (Friday). Long as we’re healthy going into playoffs, I like our chances against anyone – even the Pistons who I know we’ll adjust to like we did the Celtics when they embarrassed us during last regular season only for us to beat them in the playoffs. This is the same playoff-tested group with arguably a better bench this time around

It’s wrong to exaggerate one game, and it’s wrong to discount the regular season. It shows who you are. We had this discussion yesterday. I repeat that we have yet to show we are capable of consistently winning against top teams, especially on their floor. If we want to call ourselves a top team or a contender, that is. We face mostly strong or top teams in a stretch of about four weeks in February and early March. Then we will have a better picture of who we really are.

Cyber if I didn’t know better I would call you names, but a day spent with your magnificent mom is worth missing a game for.

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Cyber if I didn’t know better I would call you names, but a day spent with your magnificent mom is worth missing a game for.

I told her I was reading the game thread, and she immediately asked if you were stressing about the game. LOL

Edit: during the game, I mean

Speaking of where’d everyone go….anybody know what happened to Max?

I’ve been thinking about it since the season started. max usually disappears in the summer, but this time he hasn’t been back at all and we’re already mid season.

Just keep chucking those threes, morons!

I guess they didn’t learn anything from that consulting session with Thibs bc they’re just as stupid as they’ve always been.

Very reassuring win. Crazy that Diawarra and Alvarado look like they can fill the roles we were hoping Clarkson and Yabu would.

I don’t think any of us had the mindset that Clarkson would play defense like that, but point still well taken in terms of neither Yabu nor Clarkson really being what we needed.

Despite his height and wingspan, Mo is really a wing. We need another cromulent 4/5 to replace Yabu…or what Yabu was supposed to be. Huk not really it, though he’s a fine third center and may become good in another year or two.

Mo is what he was today, OG insurance.

We need to rescue Kevin Love out of Utah. He wants to play for a contender, and it is said that Utah could very well agree to buy him out if a contender expresses interest in him. Perfect locker room guy (a la PJ Tucker), with the difference being that he can still play (15/12/4 per 36 in 17 minutes per game with 36 percent shooting from 3 (3.0 made out of 8.2 taken per 36))! Just let him know you want him, Leon.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Send Clarkson to Siberia, replace him with Love, and we’re all set.

I’m not quite ready for Kolek to be Siberia’d. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have seen the floor if it hadn’t ended up as a blowout. At the same time, Alvie was playing so well that we couldn’t really take him out. They basically played 30 minutes between them, so maybe a 20 Alvie/10 Kolek split could work in general better than a 25 Alvie/5 Kolek split.

I feel like Hack-a-Mitch in the second quarter of a regular season game is a sign that the opposing coach is too much of an idiot.

Not because it doesn’t work, but it’s stupid nonetheless.

I feel like Hack-a-Mitch in the second quarter of a regular season game is a sign that the opposing coach is too much of an idiot.

Not because it doesn’t work, but it’s stupid nonetheless.

Why is it stupid? When Mitch is shooting 38% it turns out to be a top defense when the Knick’s score .760ppp. Since the Knicks currently avarage 1.19-1.20 ppp this season fouling Mitch is their best possible defense. It also revoves the threat of offensive rebounds (virtually) As an ancellary benefit you get to rest your players as the game slows to a crawl and it take the Knick’s out of a rhythm.

Just a reminder it is an arrow available in Boston’s quiver. And the only cure is for Mitch to become a vastly better free throw shooter, which doesn’t seem too likely.

How about the obvious downside of your players accumulating fouls when you might need them on the floor at the end of the game but not have them available? I mean, I understand that they space out who is fouling Mitch, but every foul used on Mitch is a foul closer to sending the fouler(s) to the bench.

My point is that it might make sense from a winning the points per possession perspective, but it’s still fucking stupid to do that in the second quarter of a regular season game. I’d hate my team for doing that.

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How about the obvious downside of your players accumulating fouls when you might need them on the floor at the end of the game but not have them available?

No one would suggest using Brown and Tatum for this purpose. The Knicks in 1969 used to bring in Mike Riordan to “give fouls” all the time.

Everybody knows the potential downside of getting into the penalty and the such, but Mitch on the FT line is the best “defense” in the NBA, situationally. It also stops the clock and virtually gurantees getting the ball back with the minimum time off the clock. He doesn’t make many. Until he starts doing so, it will be a thing.

Shams: “Free agent guard Cam Thomas has agreed to a deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, his agent Tony Ronzone of Wasserman tells ESPN. Thomas, 24, averaged 21.4 points per game over the last three seasons with the Nets.”

I don’t think any of us had the mindset that Clarkson would play defense like that, but point still well taken in terms of neither Yabu nor Clarkson really being what we needed.

I just meant backup PG and forward off the bench, Doogie. The fact that they can both play defense is an unexpected bonus.

Pretty much the whole roster is looking good now except KAT. And who knows maybe one day he can actually round into form, too.

He doesn’t make many. Until he starts doing so, it will be a thing.

You know KAT could always punish them for doing it, too, right?

Part of what makes it so alluring to Mazzulla is that they love picking on him.

I don’t think any of us had the mindset that Clarkson would play defense like that

Even when you only consider the period he was an OK player, which was only a couple of years, he was a bad defender.

Good bounce back win.

I may have to adjust my optimistic timeline on Diawara from 2028-2029 to second half of 2027-202. I hope I have to adjust it again.

I’d like to see him hit the boards a little more at this stage.

You know KAT could always punish them for doing it, too, right?

After the Knick’s performance w/o KAT on Friday, I thought you might stop putting everything on KAT for 48 hours, but that was too much to ask.

Yes, if KAT was Motumbo on defense it would make a difference.

It is not KAT’s fault after 9 seasons with professional training MR shoots FTs like an 8 year old on fentanyl.

It is not KAT’s fault after 9 seasons with professional training MR shoots FTs like an 8 year old on fentanyl.

You’ve been pretty slow lately, Bob, so I’ll spell it out for you this time:

If Jose Alvarado were a 40% free throw shooter, do you think teams would hack him to get Jalen Brunson back in the game?

Hack-a-Mitch is an indictment of KAT as much as Mitch.

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Bad Bunny is not my thing, but he put on a fantastic show. Helps to have Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin supporting him…

Same and same, Z-man. Incredible production design, choreography, energy, symbolism. And I don’t speak a word of Spanish.

If Jose Alvarado were a 40% free throw shooter, do you think teams would hack him to get Jalen Brunson back in the game?

If the Queen had balls she would be King. I’m quite sure Detroit was thrilled Mitch was playing Friday night and not KAT.

If in your fantasy scenario if Jose was a 38% FT shooter, Boston would for sure foul him to get more possessions to try to get back into the game by blunting the Knick’s offense. The reason this strategy is seldom employed is few players suck that bad at free throws.

In the actual scenario KAT had just played the entire first 10 minutes of the 3rd quarter and was tired and just subbed out when they imediately went hack a Mitch. The idea was clear. Either get an exhausted KAT or Huk on the floor. The this case the blind squirrel found the acorn and made 3/4.

Sporting events I watched on Sunday February 8, ranked in order of enjoyment:

– Knicks crush Celtics in Boston.
– US Mixed Doubles curling vs Sweden to secure spot in medal round.
– FAA vs Mannarino in the Montpellier final.
– Bad Bunny’s halftime show.
– T20 World Cup Ireland vs Sri Lanka.
– Men’s Speed Skating 5000m Qualification Round.
– The Super Bowl.

This was a very lopsided game, as if the Seahawks were playing against school boys.

[I focus on the competition and excitement of the sport itself and deliberately block out all the surrounding social manipulation noise: the commercials, the halftime show, etc. What an irritating waste they are!]

Yeah I mean, I don’t care about either team and am pretty lukewarm on American football in general… So while I can enjoy the suffering of Boston sports fans, I’d also have enjoyed a dramatic, entertaining game. Which this was not!

Mike Tirico delighting in elite punting is certainly a highlight!

On the other hand, my in-laws were psyched, and I’m pretty pleased to have drubbed Boston twice in one day with teams I follow. Sounded like Kabul circa 2000 for a while out there…

No Knicks player played more than 33 minutes today. Any chance that would have happened if Thibs was still here?

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