Knicks Get Taste of Their Own Medicine

The New York Knicks have played the role of underdog and clutch hero throughout their postseason run against the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics.

However, in Game 1, the roles were reversed when the Pacers overcame a 17-point deficit in the final six minutes to steal the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Athletic insider James Edwards III believes the Knicks had their own strategy used against them.

"New York made its bones this postseason by doing what Indiana did in Game 1. All postseason, it was the Knicks who snatched the souls of their opponents with late-game heroics. New York did it multiple times against the Detroit Pistons. It did it over and over against the defending-champion Boston Celtics. It was always New York that would play its best basketball when things got tight," Edwards wrote.

"So, whether it was the odds catching up to the Knicks or just a dose of their own medicine, they lost, and they could have made it go differently."

The Knicks overcame double-digit deficits in three of their four wins against the Celtics in the last series, but it was now their turn to be on the losing end of an epic comeback.

Even with a five-point lead with 34 seconds to go, the Knicks were unable to find a way to win. Josh Hart said the team didn't play its best at the end of the game.

“Our intensity dropped," Hart said via Edwards.

“We started playing slower. We were playing more into their hands. We let that one slip. Now, we just have to make sure that tomorrow we go in and watch film on where we need to get better. Right back on Friday.”

The Knicks need to be better in Game 2, or it could be their last time in Madison Square Garden this season.