NBA Champion Slams the Door on Knicks’ Playoff Chances: ‘They’re Cooked’

Following a blowout loss to the Indiana Pacers, the Conference Semifinals series is 2-2, and the New York Knicks are in desperate need of a calibrating win in Game 5.

Fortunately, they’ll get an opportunity to do so on their home floor of Madison Square Garden.

But one Hall of Fame voice is already shutting the door on New York’s series chances.

On a May 13 episode of Undisputed with Keyshawn Johnson and Skip Bayless, Paul Pierce says the Knicks’ run is over.

“Knicks are done y’all,” Pierce said. “I’m telling you they’re cooked. They’re cooked. We’re gonna take them out the oven, put them on the stove, and serve y’all a couple plates with dessert.”

The Knicks lost Game 4 in blowout fashion, 121-89. The team is majorly hobbled, missing multiple starters and bench contributors.

Pierce cited the toll that their depth has taken as his primary reason for his pessimism.

“With the injuries that the Knicks have sustained, I just really think the Cinderella run for the Knicks,” Pierce continued. “It just has to be devastating. Night in and night out these guys have so much pressure on them. They have to play 45-plus minutes a game, they’re only six-deep, because now they have to extend their bench to guys who haven’t played in the series. I think the crushing blow to Anunoby not being there was the final straw. It was great while it lasted…But now it’s back to reality.”

New York is without Bojan Bogdanovic, Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, and OG Anunoby. Jalen Brunson is playing through pain.

It’s a one-sided war of attrition.

Paul Pierce has been cheering against them the entire way.

---

Pierce Apologizes After Knicks Eliminate 76ers

Prior to their series with the Indiana Pacers, Pierce was picking the Philadelphia 76ers to upset the Knicks in round one.

He made a public apology to Brunson and New York after they won the series in six games, donning a number-11 jersey.

“First off, I like to say sorry to the Knicks and Jalen Brunson because I’ve shown them no respect,” Pierce said on a May 3 episode of Undisputed. “But after this [first-round win], my hat off to them. I didn’t see this coming Skip (Bayless), I really didn’t. When I looked at the series before it started, I thought Philadelphia just had too much manpower for the short-handed Knicks.”

Now, he’s reversed course again, predicting a series loss with the Knicks outgunned and outmanned.

Jalen Brunson’s sits at the center of all pessimism around New York. Pierce’s and otherwise.

---

Brunson: ‘I’m Fine. I’m Fine.’

In a second-consecutive uncharacteristic outing, Brunson finished the Game 4 blowout with 18 points on 6-of-17 shooting.

He was subbed out for good with 2:32 remaining in the third quarter. For as much as he played, it was obvious Brunson’s foot was affecting him, with most of his shot attempts falling well short of the basket.

But after the game, Brunson denied his injury the credit for his poor performance.

“I’m fine,” he told SNY on May 12. “I’m fine.”

He also refused to let an injury-ridden roster serve as excuse for New York.

“We can talk about fresher legs, we can give us all the pity that we want,” Brunson said on May 12. “Yeah, we’re shorthanded but that doesn’t matter right now. We have who we have, and we need to go forward with that. There is no ‘we’re shorthanded,’ there is no excuse. There is no excuse whatsoever. If we lose, we lose.”

Game 5 will be on the New York Knicks’ home floor, where they boast a 4-1 record this postseason.

But with Jalen Brunson not himself, it threatens to be another blowout if the team can’t rally around the All-Star point guard.

Paul Pierce, long nicknamed “The Truth,” may be right.

0 Comments