With the Eastern Conference Finals set to make their way west to Indianapolis, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy feels confident in declaring this series already over.
Entering the night down 1-0 in the series to the Indiana Pacers, the New York Knicks hoped to bounce back from a close loss at home.
Yet once again, the Knicks lost a nail-biter despite a strong fourth-quarter effort to pull back. However, they fell at the final hurdle and lost 114-109 at Madison Square Garden.
With the series shifting to Indianapolis, Portnoy believes that it’s curtains for New York already.
‘Still a great season for the Knicks. Beat a pesky Pistons team and an injured Celtics team. Lit the city on fire for a couple weeks,’ Portnoy sarcastically posted to X, formerly Twitter.
‘Great memories for the franchise. One of the best seasons in history of franchise. #bingbong.’
Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy believes the New York Knicks’ season is over after Friday’s loss
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks in points, but made two key mistakes at the end to lose the game
Now, the Pacers head back home – where they’ve lost once these playoffs – with a 2-0 lead
The Pacers have now won six straight road games in the playoffs ever since suffering a loss in Game 3 of the first round against the Milwaukee Bucks.
But with the series returning to Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where the Pacers have lost only once in the past month, it might not be the biggest stretch to think that a sweep is on the cards.
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson led the team with 36 points and eleven assists, but two crucial mistakes made by him were New York’s undoing.
Brunson dished his last assist of the night to Josh Hart to trim Indiana’s lead to 110-109 with 14.1 seconds remaining. Off the inbound pass, Brunson was seen pulling on the jersey of Aaron Nesmith – putting the Pacers guard on the line.
After Nesmith sank both free throws to make it 112-109, the Knicks raced up the court to seemingly set up for a game-tying shot.
Instead, Brunson heaved a 3-point attempt far too early (8.1 seconds remaining) and from far too deep (29 feet) to give Indiana’s Myles Turner a defensive rebound. After a Mikal Bridges foul, Turner converted both his free throws to put the game out of reach.
Indiana was led by Pascal Siakam’s 39 point, five rebound, three assist effort on the night. Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton managed a double-double of 14 points and eleven assists alongside eight rebounds.
Game 3 is set for Saturday night.
