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The New York Knicks have lost back-to-back games to the Indiana Pacers after getting out to a 2-0 series lead, and Boston Celtics legend and current Fox Sports analyst Paul Pierce thinks their exciting playoff run is coming to an end.
“Knicks are done y’all, I’m telling you, they’re cooked,” Pierce said on FS1’s Undisputed. “We’re going to take them out of the oven, put them on the stove, serve y’all a couple plates with dessert.”
The Knicks were hammered by the Pacers, 121-89, in Game 4 of their second-round postseason matchup on Monday afternoon in an affair where New York simply looked exhausted. The Knicks trailed by as many as 43 in the loss, and now, they will head back to Madison Square Garden for a pivotal Game 5.
New York appeared to be sitting pretty in the early stages of this playoff series with Indiana, rallying from double-digit deficits in each of the first two games to grab a commanding series edge.
But all of the injuries that the Knicks are dealing with seem to be catching up to them.
Paul Pierce says Knicks’ success was not sustainable
The Knicks were already without Julius Randle entering the playoffs. We all knew that. Randle has been sidelined since January, so New York fully understood that it was going to have to win without him (and there may even be an argument for the Knicks being better off sans Randle, but that’s a debate for another day).
But then, New York was hit by an avalanche of even more health issues.
Mitchell Robinson is out. Bogdan Bogdanovic—a prized midseason acquisition—is on the shelf. OG Anunoby is now sidelined with a hamstring injury. Jalen Brunson is fighting through a foot injury he sustained in Game 2 against the Pacers. Isaiah Hartenstein was already managing a sore Achilles and now has a balky shoulder on top of that.
The Knicks have been able to get by thanks to some superb play from role players like Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart, but Pierce thinks their time is up.
“Look at this, first three games, DiVincenzo was averaging 29 points per game, 50 percent from the field, 56 percent from 3,” Pierce said; “Josh Hart through the first three games, 17 points, 15 rebounds, six Assists, 65 percent from the field, 60 percent from 3. If they play at that level during the season, that’s All-NBA. With the injuries the Knicks have sustained, I just really think the Cinderella run is over for the Knicks.”
Pierce makes some very salient points.
DiVincenzo averaged 15.5 points per game during the regular season. Hart logged 9.4 points per game while shooting 31 percent from long range. But suddenly, the two wings experienced a colossal uptick in production in the playoffs.
Credit to the Villanova duo for elevating their games at the highest level, but at some point, their hot shooting was going to cool off, and it seems like that is starting to happen. DiVincenzo scored just seven points in New York’s Game 4 loss. Hart? Two points off 1-of-9 shooting.
To be fair, both players have been playing an overwhelming amount of minutes, so they are probably just gassed. Their roles have increased even more due to Anunoby’s injury.
The Knicks went into their series with the Pacers resembling the clearly superior team. But as injuries mount and fatigue sets in, it could be Indiana that ends up punching its ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals.
More must-reads:
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