00:00Look, there's still a bit of a house money scenario tonight for the New York Knicks.
00:03You lose tonight, which would not be great, obviously.
00:05Series is tied at two. You have a best of three scenario now.
00:09You then have to go to San Antonio, where you've won two games in this series.
00:12And we'll get another home game in game six, obviously.
00:15You win tonight's game, you effectively end the series, in my opinion.
00:19I agree.
00:20You go up 3-1 and go on the road, obviously, for game five.
00:25You've got to win one out of three.
00:27And the way this team has played the majority of this postseason,
00:30I just don't see this Knick team losing three consecutive games to the Spurs at this juncture.
00:35And that's not a knock on the Spurs.
00:37The Knicks have just played, other than game three, really good ball.
00:41Better ball, in my opinion, than anybody else.
00:44What happens, though, if you lose game four, is that the narrative changes.
00:50The narrative goes from the Knicks turn the middle of the most dominant playoff run of all time.
00:55Only one other team had ever won 15 straight games.
00:58That was the 2017 Golden State Warriors.
01:01So that's out the window now.
01:02So this would be the second most dominant run from a standpoint of wins over a period of time.
01:08They're 13-1 right now in their last 14 games, which is only second to those Golden State Warrior teams.
01:14But it's the average margin of victory that they have, even over that Golden State team.
01:19So let's play it out.
01:21Knicks win tonight.
01:22They right the ship.
01:23All the panic goes away.
01:25And now we're talking about when does the coronation begin?
01:29Is it in San Antonio for game five on Saturday?
01:32Is it back at the Garden?
01:34I guess it'll be Tuesday for game six.
01:37Or do we actually have to sweat out the possibility of going the distance to having to win a game
01:41seven on the road?
01:42Now, the flip side of that is also true.
01:44If the Knicks lose tonight, then the narrative becomes, is this a choke job?
01:50Are the New York Knicks going to right themselves in time not to be the first team in NBA history
01:56to win the first two games on the road in the NBA Finals and then not close out the championship
02:03run?
02:03And I guarantee you, that becomes the front page story.
02:07Does this Knicks team have what it takes to overcome blowing a 2-0 lead on the road and losing
02:15both games at home?
02:16So it's very interesting, the dynamic, regardless of how it happens, right?
02:20Outside of it being an egregious, you know, officiating thing like back in the day when the Kings got screwed
02:27all those years ago.
02:28Against the Lakers.
02:29Right, against the Lakers.
02:29Outside of that, it's going to come down to, are the Spurs a better team than the Knicks if the
02:37Knicks lose game four tonight at the Garden?
02:38Which is why I think they have to be allowed that one clunker they gave you in game three.
02:46Because they played such good basketball for such a long time.
02:50And I think because they own the fact that they lost on merit and not on the officiating, that you
02:56see a renewed focus for what got them into the finals in the first place.
03:00And what do I mean by that?
03:02I mean, you're not going to see Jalen Brunson bringing the ball up to court early on in this game.
03:07You're going to see Hart, even OG, somebody, McHale, bringing the ball up to cross the timeline, and then we're
03:15going to find him.
03:16You're going to see Carl Anthony Towns get the ball more often earlier in the game.
03:21He didn't take enough shots in game three.
03:24Not close to enough.
03:25We did a little bit more hero ball out of Jalen Brunson.
03:29So I think we're going to see the Knicks immediately get back to the style of basketball that got them
03:34to the finals that they, for whatever the reason might be.
03:37And I'll tell you what I think the reason is.
03:40I think they're going to get back to Nick basketball.
03:42But here's why they didn't in game three in that four-point loss to the Spurs.
03:47Why didn't they?
03:47Because of the Spurs.
03:49The Spurs ratcheted up their defense, and they made it impossible for Jalen Brunson to get the ball across timeline
03:57and start the Knicks' offense.
03:59They made it impossible for him to get the ball to Cat early in the shot clock as opposed to
04:05late in the shot clock.
04:06Now, the Knicks also shot like crap.
04:08Landry Schammer has been brilliant off the bench.
04:10You know him as a former Sixer.
04:12Was one for seven in that game.
04:15They didn't shoot well collectively.
04:17They missed their first nine three-point attempts in the fourth quarter.
04:20And I give the Spurs defense credit for that.
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