At around 9:30 last night we were looking at a pretty easy Conference Finals against Cleveland. Now it’s likely we’ll be facing Detroit with a head of steam after they get to steamroll the Cavs. The Pistons are certainly not insurmountable, and we’ll probably beat them, but they’re not what you want as a warmup before the main event.

We really need the Celtics to pull through tomorrow so we get one more comfortable matchup before the ECF.

19 points in a half where you could win a series. Doesn’t get more of a collapse than that. That was embarrassing. I don’t think Detroit was even playing that great. Magic just couldn’t put a shot down

He’s matured into pretty much exactly the player I thought he would be.

This shouldn’t be the topic of today’s (or really any postseason day’s) conversation, and it’s pointless to delve back into this, but he’s quite a bit better than the player KB thought he’d be. Let’s at least lurch in the direction of painting within the guardrails of reality here.

They gave up one piece too many in the trade and if they had one of those pieces back, they wouldn’t be anything close to a +1600 (*) shot to win this year’s LO’B. (**)

(*) Knicks odds slipped a bit overnight, presumably because the Pistons won and played long stretches of lockdown defense, as they already had in Game 2.

(**) There was an ultra vires game thread comment the other night that we should bestow great thanks upon Masai Ujiri. Interesting, in that the trade turned his team completely around.

Desmond Bane- pretty much the Mikal trade has a 52 TS in the series.

When I clicked on one of the links above (repeated below), there was an embedded video of Mike Brown being asked about the series. At one point in it he is thanking the coaching staff by name. It’s amazing how many coaches the Knicks have. I hadn’t heard of half of them. I’m happy the Knicks are willing to pay for a large staff of coaches.

https://sny.tv/articles/knicks-adjustments-offense-karl-anthony-towns-hawks

I’m not rooting for the 6ers per se, but I’ll always root for the further humiliation of the Celtics, probably even after I’m dead.

Christian Scott had a 109 stuff + also. All hope is not lost unless you are David Peterson.

I hereby retract my Christian Scott slander

All hope is not lost unless you are David Peterson.

or Sean Manea

I’m not rooting for the 6ers per se, but I’ll always root for the further humiliation of the Celtics, probably even after I’m dead.

It’s always better to humiliate the Celtics ourselves.

If they lose to the Sixers tonight I will be outright mad that we were denied the opportunity to beat them again.

Agnostic. Both those team have a strong personal and professional reason to want to beat us… otherwise we should beat them.

Trying to take an RJ Barrett victory lap after OG Anunoby was 2nd in the entire NBA in BPM in the first round of the playoffs? Now that’s what we call commitment to the bit.

Really cool shot though!

RJ still has a game left in the first round, though. If he has 68 points on 29-of-31 shooting with 18 rebounds, 15 assists, 6 steals, and 4 blocks, he could still move ahead of OG. 🙂

Who is trying to take an RJ victory lap over OG?

Where is Z-man these couple of days? Need all mega posters at their peak in round 2…

RJ made the shot, but he missed 3 pretty good looks from deep and had a gnarly TO to close the 4th. They would have won otherwise. His defense has been good though.

“Where is Z-man these couple of days? Need all mega posters at their peak in round 2…”

Just got back from a 3-day golf trip that involved copious amounts of booze, watched the game in a state of drunken disbelieving frenzy. There was a “Cruisin’ Ocean City” thing going on down there where 3,000 loud hot rods and classic cars were continually on the street, and they even drove down the boardwalk right under our terrace. It will take a while to get my hearing back.

Ouch. Tatum is out.

I don’t think a guy with a repaired Achilles and an injured other calf would be able to guard KAT all series.

I actually think Tatum being out this game might help the Celtics, they played great without him all year.

That’s still crazy that his knee isn’t ready to go.

They must be really scared about his other Achilles if they’re sitting him for this game.

one positive about facing embiid in the second round, he should be gassed by about game three…

Wooohooooooooo Golden Tempo

horse racing would be a lot more interesting if the jockeys were only allowed to beat other riders with those little sticks they carry with them…

That’d be hot

Great derby

I actually think Tatum being out this game might help the Celtics, they played great without him all year.

Agree. Brown might be able to rediscover his form and the bench might be supercharged defending and hitting 3s. But they need SOMETHING from Derrick White to bring it home

What a bizarre starting lineup for Boston

This Celtics starting five is embarrassing

The fans are already in shock

If luka Garza is you’re starting center….you’re toast

Boston looks cooked.

Can’t believe we’ll have to deal with Embiid and Nurse’s smug face for two weeks.

The ISM seems to have been recruited by Philly.

Embiid missing most of the regular season is quite an advantage for 6ers. He looks fresh and energized. Still lacking the lift he used to have but he’s quite crafty

I guess Boston wanted to do pure 5 out??? Still, inexplicable

Chuck 3

As a coach you need to be able to coach another style of offense during the regular season so you have something else you can run.

Hate the Celtics, of course, but will root for Cueta slightly….

It feels like if the Celtics win, they will hit 20 3 pointers in Game 1.

George missed a bunch of games, too, under dubious circumstances.

The Celtics game is strictly built on threes. All you need to check to know if it’s a w or L

If helps the Sixers most of the league was tanking or just so many awful eastern conference teams in general that they could stay within the top 8.

Mazzulla with the 10 man rotation in game 7 🙄

Shit now that the Celtics are about to lose I’m realizing I would really rather play them

Sixers are 14-for-17 inside the arc lol

Wheels coming off

Embiid looks slow AF. If we do have to play the Sixers, KAT would destroy him. But they’ll probably put PG on KAT and hide Joel on Hart or Bridges.

Celtics scrappin’.

They look SO much less athletic than Philly. Like every bucket they score seems like a miracle.

If Boston is next, Señor Hustlebunny is gonna be real annoying.

But they’ll probably put PG on KAT and hide Joel on Hart or Bridges.

I’m not sure PG can handle that assignment. Brown should also be quick to put another shooter if that happens, or go to the two big lineup.

Celtics scrappin’.

They look SO much less athletic than Philly. Like every bucket they score seems like a miracle.

Outside of Brown, Boston doesn’t have an above average athlete.

Jaylen Brown is -19 so far.

Man I would LOVE the chance to kick the Celtics’ asses

If it’s the Sixers, don’t forget that standing in the vicinity of Embiid is a sufficient condition for FTAs.

Gotta give Embiid credit for that rejection of Brown. Incredible.

Thst was an amazing block

Mazzulla’s using a ten man game 7 rotation and 5 of the 10 players have zero points.

This is the guy who hired Thibs as a consultant.

If Edgecombe is gonna do that…

After that anecdote of Mazzulla and the Celtics coaches challenging the journalists covering the Celtics to a game and basically trying to humiliate them (they won 57-4 and were full court pressing the whole game), I realized that he’s not a basketball genius, he’s just insane.

This is like watching Butler trying to hang with Duke or something

Celtics offense makes no sense. Jack threes in 1st – doesn’t work. Don’t jack as much in the 2nd- works. Back to jacking. When you have a coach like that you will never break habits , I would be interested to see when some of these guys play under a new coach in their career if they will be able to play a different offense

I can’t believe people thought this Celtics team was good. I should have made more money off this.

It’s not just that Embiid is slow, but he has very little lift too. It’s impressive that he’s still able to do what he is doing in that condition.

Ain’t over yet

How many of these Hoosiers looking MFs does Boston have, sheesh

Embiid ain’t gonna be able to post up so easily on Monday…

That’s a heck of a shot from PG

Meanwhile Adam Silver thinks….this is all good, now if only we had more gambling!

Seriously, there might have been four ads for gambling in the last commercial break. It’s obscene.

Holy cow. Sixers might do this

These shots are not even close.

This roster was second in the east. Regular season can’t be graded

The Celtics did even worse when Embiid went to the bench. This one’s over.

We would have smashed these guys mercilessly and Philly presents a stiffer challenge, there is no question about it.

Holy cow. Sixers might do this

Are you shocked they might win this game?

Funny that we gave up 5 picks for Mikal to beat Boston and we’re probably going to have to bench him for Deuce and Alvarado to beat Philly.

At this point it’s win win: Boston humiliation again, or Sixers collapse.

I guess we didn’t need to win that 2nd seed for home court after all 😅

If Boston had Mikal right now he’d be their second best player

A Mikal issue. It’s more a Brunson issue. Even if you put Mikal on Maxey you have a VJ blowing by Brunson issue

The good news is that Embiid will probably break down after a few more games but dang, that backcourt is scary…

This game is not over. The Celts can go on a 15-0 run in the blink of an eye.

Sixers better not continue to relax like they did those last couple of possessions.

Yeah, this Philly version would be a handful for us, but I already see Ebmiid being questionable for Monday.

A Mikal issue. It’s more a Brunson issue. Even if you put Mikal on Maxey you have a VJ blowing by Brunson issue

Good thing Brown’s been rolling out those 3 and 4-guard lineups.

In 2024, Maxey scored 30/game on 60TS and they still lost in 6. The Knicks pose problems to them too.

Nikola vucevic – 0 minutes

As I said…

Sixers may be a more consistently tough matchup but we have home court. OG matches up with george, towns/Mitch need to make embiid work, we put Mikhal on VJ and brunson on their non shooter

Also, it’s the Sixers. They might blow this up easily.

Sixers showing they are still young and stupid.

6-pt game.

Sixers showing they are still young and stupid.

They have literally one young player.

Now the pressure is all on the Sixers and the crowd is back into it.

Maxey is still young. Bona if Embiid gets injured. But ok.

God I hate Embiid so much. That immediate “what did I do?” after a flagrant…

If the goal is a championship, the risk of Embiid creating an injury also needs to be factored in.

Who are we rooting for Philly or Celtics or do we want both to lose? Lol

AND THEY DIDN’T EVEN CALL IT A FLAGRANT!!

Come on, Boston. I can’t deal with a week of this flopping bitch.

Don’t underestimate what playoff losers Embiid’s teams are.

I guess I’m rooting for the sixers

Hubie is going to get his wish.

And you know the quote about what the Gods do when they want to punish us.

This game is turning into a win-win

oh shit, this game ain’t over yet…boston scratching and clawing their way back…

White rediscovering his shot is not a great development for round 2.

But for real, we want the sixers right? Right? Is tatum coming back this playoffs?

What a total screwup challenging that foul call.

This is some ticky tack stuff and I love it

Dammit. Thought that might work

Nick Nurse just badly out-challenged Joe Mazzulla

edit: both were bad

They showed an assistant telling Mazzula to challenge. That’s his whole job!! How do you get that wrong when that’s your whole job?

Man Maxey is fast

Boston just could not buy a basket. Plenty of good looks too.

An avalanche of bricks

Brown is no Tatum.

Wow. Wow wow wow

Maxey trying to fake a charge and then maybe injuring Joel was a fun late plot twist

This Boston offense is embarrassing, lol. They had so many chances and key chuckling.

Sixers it is, maxey is scary

Down 2, chuck a 3. Basic math says ..

Maxey’s really why I didn’t want Philly. That dude is scary.

I am loving how much the Celtics are choking.

If Embiid is really hurt (probably not tho) sort of an ideal scenario for us.

Are the Celtics still heavy Eastern conference favorites?

Look, if Tatum was there, they’d have another guy to shoot contested 3s.

Better team won.

One of my favorite days of the long NBA season is the game the Celtics get eliminated.

Goes back to game 2.. chucking threes and missing 15 straight to end the game . Mind you, Embiid wasn’t even in the back line for defense because he was out ..

The next episode of the Bill Simmons podcast will be funny.

The ringer should be a good read since it’s Boston homer zone

They finally go for a 2 when they are down 9.

Knicks in 5!

TD garden curse

Last night Bruins. Tonight the basketball team..

With the Red Sox looking bad, might be nothing going on sports wise until Patriots preseason.

The next episode of the Bill Simmons podcast will be funny.

He pre-grieved after game 6. Saw it coming. Didn’t want the Knicks. Said they should sit Tatum and call it a year.

This was Philly’s NBA Finals, they’re gonna be physically and mentally exhausted by the time Knicks finish them off.

Nice that the Philly games will be on the weekend. Half of that arena will be Knicks fans.

Edit: Game 4 is 3:30 on Sunday. We might get to 75% Knicks fans there.

We drew the tougher of two first round opponents. Now the tougher of two second round opponents. We’ll most likely get the toughest possible ECF opponent (Detroit).

I’m all for challenges and shit but no one wins a title going 6-6-6 through their conference. We need to make short work of Sixers.

Game 4 is 3:30 on Sunday. We might get to 75% Knicks fans there

Mother’s Day. Rats.

Cavs can beat the Pistons . I know many may not see it with the way they have played vs Toronto, but the Raptors seem like a bad matchup . Cavs offense much more dangerous than Orlando.

Are the Celtics still heavy Eastern conference favorites?

ha…sure don’t seem so anymore…bye boston, enjoy the off season…

Orlando could still beat the Pistons. Game 7s are weird.

The Embiid redemption stories will be so annoying the next few days.

Had the Sixers blown them out tonight I’d be a little more worried but Sixers were a bit lucky Boston missed those 3s when they had a chance to take the lead.

I don’t know… Nick Nurse in many ways is like Thibs and plays his starters a ton of minutes and rarely makes adjustments. They are a still tough team but if the Knicks stick to their newfound offense, I see Knicks winning in 5 or 6. A lot will depend on Embiid’s health and whether he injuries himself or one of our players

It’s taking historical offensive levels of suckage for the pistons to win this series. Their offense isn’t going to randomly supercharge in the next round.

Wanna hang out sometime Sixers?

We need to trap maxey, make him beat us with the pass. Averaged over 30 against us this season. Embiid also did serious damage

Remember when Mazzulla drew a play for Garza to beat Orlando in the last game of the regular season?

Lol

This is what the Magic Trio is doing

Paolo despite the 45 point gem- 50 TS

Bane-52 TS

Suggs- 43 TS!

If they want to win game 7. One of these guys needs to make shots

Orlando could still beat the Pistons. Game 7s are weird.

used to think it was jalen suggs that made the magic work…

it’s franz…franz is basketball brittle though…even if he does play tomorrow he’s been out near a week, his timing will be off…

pistons and cavs probably both move on tomorrow…

Mazzula is Mike D’ Antoni . One couldn’t spam the 3 on the way to a title though .

Franz has already been ruled out.

Looks like I’m headed to game 1 instead of game 3 of the second round (like I thought when I first bought these tickets). I’ll rearrange my schedule. But looking forward to it. Fuck Joel Embiid!

Mazzula is Mike D’ Antoni . One couldn’t spam the 3 on the way to a title though .

If I remember correctly, every team they faced along the way had lost a major player due to injury?

A lot of the next series will come down to Mikal being able to guard Maxey or Brown quickly benching him for Deuce if he can’t.

To think we put up with Mikal’s shit for so long because we’d need him against Boston.

I’ll say this, though, if he manages to throttle Maxey in this series might outdo KAT for biggest renaissance of the spring.

If I remember correctly, every team they faced along the way had lost a major player due to injury?

Yes, they played every team without their best player. Miami without Butler, Cleveland without Mitchell, Indiana without Halliburton, and Dallas with Luka on a bum knee he was getting shots for to play on.

No title is fraudulent, and that team had a great year, but they got a real parting of the Red Sea.

Not to mention the Knicks didn’t have Randle. I will go to my grave believing we win the title that year if not for Jaques.

You’re correct- Round 1- No Jimmy Butler, Round 2- Mitchell doesn’t finish series and Round 3- Haliburton played two games.

*Mazzula may indeed be an overrated coach

Deuce got torched by Maxey in 2024 and it still didn’t matter. Philly has bigger problems defending the Knicks than the Knicks have defending Maxey.

The way to guard Maxey will be to have OG help off Oubre to contest at the rim. Have Hart covering PG and take it from there. No lead guard has a chance to stop Maxey, it has to be a team effort.

On the other hand, put Maxey and/or Embiid on the P&R every time down the court.

No title is fraudulent, and that team had a great year, but they got a real parting of the Red Sea.

Not to mention the Knicks didn’t have Randle. I will go to my grave believing we win the title that year if not for Jaques.

Agreed on both counts.

Deuce got torched by Maxey in 2024 and it still didn’t matter. Philly has bigger problems defending the Knicks than the Knicks have defending Maxey.

That was pre-Edgecombe.

Edgecombe is not that good.

I like our chances, we have two bigs that match up well with Embiid and we have waves to throw at Maxey. Probably will go 6 games but I’m pretty confident and wouldn’t be surprised at all with a gentleman’s sweep.

It’s still Knicks in 666 Hubert

Have Hart covering PG and take it from there.

Hart’s defense was outstanding against Atlanta — first against Johnson then McCollum. PG is a tough matchup but he looks up to it.

It’s May 2 and two of the Mets’ starting outfielders are guys I have never heard of.

We’ve gotta be pretty heavy favorites to win the East now right?

Why would we be favored to win the East? The Sixers are extremely good and might be the actual best team in the East at full strength. Pistons destroyed us in the regular season and matched the highest win total in our history.

We’ll be fortunate to get to ECF and would not be favored against Detroit

Knicks have the third highest odds to win the NBA title right now on Polymarket, behind only OKC and the Spurs

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