Knicks 116, Pistons 113

In reply to Walco

and JRE among others.

I know Celtics seem invincible, but I think the Knicks will play them real tough...I expect Bridges to have a very good series

In reply to ray

The Celtics beat the Knicks during the regular season by hitting 3s and exploiting Brunson and KAT on defense. OG and Mikal need to have huge series for the Knicks on both offense and defense for the Knicks to have a chance. The Knicks bench will have to contribute as well

Bumpity bump for velo

In reply to Walco

Bridges came to play....all game

In reply to ray

That was the first time I ever saw a player dominate an overtime with defense. Bridges hit a huge 3-pointer as well, but he won that game for the Knicks with his defense. It was a team effort though

i really have to side eye the celtics how can you blow another 20 point lead going into the fourth quarter twice. they continue jacking up threes even though they ain't falling

In reply to velo

1. The Celtics lack a true leader, so they will always appear out of sorts when facing a team with a real leader (Brunson). Jacking up 3s last year to win was rolling the dice; now it is coming up snake eyes.
2. Thibs coached a good game tonight especially with his substitutions.
3. The Villanova-Knicks is alive and well.

The Knicks surprised again, good win, I want to believe that if the Celtics lose the series to the Knicks the Celtics coach will lose his job. Bridges is on the way of becoming a star.

Hack a Mitch is not a strategy

In reply to dayne

Bridges is doing what he has been doing for the past 7 years. 76ers were plain dumb.

Speaking of dumb, what were the Celtics thinking? You are up by 20. CLOCK MANAGEMENT 101—if you are ahead, the clock is your friend; do not stop it. Yet, in their wisdumb, the Celtics repeatedly fouled Robinson when he was not in a foul-shooting position. This was right up Madison Square Garden's alley, and the Villanova-Knicks capitalized on Boston's stupidity.

If the Knicks can limit their turnovers, they could be headed to the Conference finals.

The series is not over yet but it could be over soon if the celtics continue to play like this.and what is going on with pozinghis playing only 14 minutes coming off the bench

In reply to ray

Mitchell Robinson was +13 in Game 1 and +19 in Game 2 while averaging just 22 minutes per game. The Celtics do not have an answer for him and are reluctant to drive to the rim when he is an elite rim protector. Also, in Game 2 the Celtics had no one who was able to guard KAT when Mitch is in the game. That is why the Celtics employed the Hack-a-Mitch strategy to force Thibs to take him out of the game.

In reply to dayne

So it's the coach's fault that the Celtics are shooting 25% even on wide open 3s?

In reply to Walco



No, no, no!

1. That strategy would not take Robinson out the game, it would take those fouling him out of the game.
2. In Game 2 they misused the strategy employing it in situations where Robinson wasn't shooting. It is the ONLY time that strategy has value.
3. Fouling Robinson stopped the clock which works 100% in the favor of the team trailing so it was a stupid strategy.

In reply to JoeGrine


The strategy was to force Thibs to make a decision whether he would keep Mitch in the game and allow the Hack-a-Mitch strategy to continue. I don't think the Boston coach would have used any of his key players to foul Mitch and get themselves in foul trouble. He could have used a bench player specifically for that purpose. And as soon as Boston got in the penalty, Thibs subbed OG for Mitch.


You are discounting the defensive impact that Robinson has had on those 2 games. Let me repeat it. In game one, the Knicks outscored the Celtics by 13 points when Robinson was on the floor, and in game 2 the Knicks outscored the Celtics by 19 points when Robinson was on the floor. No player on either team had a similar impact on the games. Obviously Boston viewed Mitch as a threat.


I assume you are saying that fouling Mitch helped the Knicks by putting the Celtics in the penalty, but I don't remember the Knicks shooting any free throws on non-shooting fouls after Thibs subbed for Mitch in the 4th quarter of game 2. So I don't think the strategy hurt Boston. Also, IIRC Boston was trailing the Knicks when it deployed the Hack-a-Mitch strategy late in game 2.

In reply to Walco

Sir/Madam

1. The only time fouling Robinson was to the detriment of the Villanova Knicks was if he was in the act of shooting. Boston was stupidly fouling him even when (1) Robinson wasn't past mid-court (b) when Boston wasn't over the foul limit to send Robinson to the line.

2. Most of the time that Robinson was on the floor, where was Bronson, Hart, Bridges? How many block shots did Robinson have? Is Robinson a better defender than KAT, absolutely, hence the subbing on defensive plays. Boston was outscored as they were jacking up threes.

3. When the clock stops it keeps time on the clock to the advantage of the team trying to catch up.

Boston has been poorly coached that is the main issue in this series, then Bronson. If NY can limit their turnovers and Boston doesn't come up with better game plans, this series will be over quickly.

In reply to JoeGrine

Part of the idea of hack a Mitch is to get him off the floor because of his defense

In reply to JoeGrine

What's the deal calling them Nova Knicks...they got non Nova players as well

In reply to ray

Joe is only interested in praising the former Villanova players on the Knicks roster

In reply to Walco

He should be grateful that the Knicks put them together...

In reply to JoeGrine

First you said that intentionally fouling only helps the team that is trailing. And when I pointed out that Boston was trailing when the coach gave the instruction to foul Mitch, you respond that they should only have foul him when he was shooting. So when do you think Mitch would have taken a shot in the final 4 minutes of the game other than on a put back after an offensive rebound?


It was a total team effort in which the Villanova Knicks played a key role, but Mitch, KAT and OG played huge roles as well. Did you notice who was guarding Tatum on the last play of the game? It was OG Anunoby, who was the best defensive player on the Knicks by some distance during the regular season. Bridges did not block Tatum's shot. He stole the ball when Tatum abandoned the shot because of OG's stifling defense and tried to pass the ball to Brown for a 3-pointer.

Anyway, let's agree to disagree because you seem to watch Knicks games and only see 3 players on the floor

I stand corrected. The Knicks were trailing when Boston started intentionally fouling Mitch.



Mitchell Robinson Says Celtics 'Made Me Feel Like I'm a Threat' with Intentional Fouls

In reply to ray


So a smart coach keep him out there as it stops the clock and you keep him there until Boston approaches the foul limit when Robinson becomes a liability.

In reply to ray



I had no idea.