“Injury has ruined our title dreams” – Stephen A. reacts to Knicks fall to Pacers 130-109 in Game 7

“Injury has ruined our title dreams” – Stephen A. reacts to Knicks fall to Pacers 130-109 in Game 7

your tri-state area out a dealer today too much from the Pacers and Tyrese Halbert and they got off to a spectacular start and they with stood a Nicks flurry in the third quarter this was a key sequence as TJ McConnell forced to turnover Aaron n Smith up and good and the Nick all of the adversity what a joy to watch this team OG an anobi gave it a shot Willis Reed es with five points right out of the gate and then really couldn’t play much more on that s hamy he got 36 minutes from Josh Hart and kind of appropriate Allen that Jaylen Brunson the all World jayen Brunson finishes a season in the locker room with a broken left hand that’s just how it went for this team the final nail right for the season but you know when you look back at now what this team was able to accomplish the way they even fought back in this game with all the pieces that they were either missing or had injured it was emblematic of this season and what this team’s been able to do the identity that was set this season let you know that this was going to be next team let all future opponents know this team will fight you to the very end they will give everything they have the fact that anobi was even on the court also shows you just how invested he is and he was in trying to help this team win there’s not a lot more that you can say about this team other than that they were had an inspiring season and had an inspiring run in the playoffs that fell just short of reaching the Conference Finals but it does feel like this is not the end this feels like it’s the beginning of something here yeah Sports is the Ultimate Reality of TV and you never know what’s going to happen I mean the Knicks script wise you have the homec court advantage you have the crowd you have the fans they were kind of supposed to win this game they were the number two seed they had a bunch of injuries to overcome Indiana Pacers they came out and they played an incredible game of basketball and that’s the thing about sports you never know what’s going to happen you can’t predict what’s going to happen this was a dream season for this team what this team has to do right now is take the positives from how well they played each individual know that you have three starters that were sitting on your bench for pretty much the whole entire Series rck this team rck this locker room and go for a championship in the next couple years that’s what this fan base that’s what this team in this franchise has to look forward to it was impressive what these guys did an outstanding performance this season divon chenzo was amazing but this team has a really bright future and you have a franchise Cornerstone in Jaylen Brunson there’s some questions about where he would stand in the hierarchy of great players coming into the season when they signed him there’s no doubt about his accomplishments and he got hurt here in the second half the fractured left hand didn’t play at all in the fourth quarter came back here on defense against Tyrese halberton perhaps it happened there uh but again Brunson did not play at all and when he did play similar guys to how he performed in game six did not shoot very well but nonetheless he was a fifth leading scorer in the League 28.7 points per game Allen in the regular season and the leading score the leading score in the entire NBA in these playoffs the Knicks have a franchise Cornerstone and for all those that say he’s a 1B he’s a 1A certainly has and he proved it in the most important time the playoffs especially when he was the only player that you really had to stop and most of the most games you couldn’t and and that’s what made it special by the way he did struggle with his shooting in this game he still had nine assists he still was looking to make plays he was still giving it like I said about this team everything he had but here’s a guy that is legitimately one of the top scoring players not guards players in the league he’s one of the most Unstoppable oneman players in the league and he became a leader as well as he went the team went the team rallied around him a lot of the times and he made big shots and big plays in big moments for a guy listed at 62 one of the top paint scorers in the NBA and finishers of course at the rim and I mean w he he established himself last season I thought in the playoffs when you remember of course what Eric spoler said How’s this guy not all all NBA how’s he not an All-Star well he is this season he became the All-Star this season now he’s elevating into Superstar status in New York no question he has absolutely embraced playing in a New York Nick uniform and we’ve chronicled how difficult it is to play on this big stage he Embraces it he loves it he’s got teammates that love it coaches that love it he’s got a a fan base that absolutely loves to have him in a New York Nick uniform the performances that he put on it’s it it was a lot of fun to watch at the same time I know what Jaylen brunson’s thinking right now he’s thinking about how bright the future is for himself and his team because the ultimate goal in an ba uniform it’s something that I didn’t achieve is to win an NBA championship and there’s a lot of guys on this roster that want to achieve that goal and they’re going to have the opportunity to achieve that goal in the near future and look at the Pacers and what they were able to accomplish coming in to MSG we all were eager to watch the start all about how the crowd will react well the Pacers somewhat inexperienced W they light it up in the first quarter 16 of 21 and that was the whole key to the game as they go seven of nine from downtown in the first quarter it it was incredible and you know that offense was just clicking and every way shape or form ogan anobi with the heroic two shots that he hit unfortunately he couldn’t move but this Pacer team they learned from game five completely as a team as an as individual players and they were not overwhelmed by the crowd and overwhelmed by the moment they executed their offense perfectly every guy that got the opportunity to step up stepped up I mean that goes 1 to 10 every guy that’s set foot on that floor for the Pacers excluding maybe Obi toppen played an outstanding basketball game and that’s what you need to do to knock off the Knicks on their home floor that says a lot about what that franchise has done this is a young team that’s building that’s going to be a formidable opponent for the Boston Celtics in the next round Allan we talked about it I think they have some pieces that can give the Celtics a ton of problems especially if porzingis is not healthy they earned this win you got to give them credit they played their butts off they broke a record offensively with the way what they can do on offense and they’re moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals and you know we love you know when it comes to playoffs and rivalries and stuff like that you always want to find villains Tyrese halberton is moving into Reggie Miller territory with what he was able to do in this game and a lot of trash talking he was doing to some people on on the court uh spectators celebrity row he was drawing with him it was very familiar to the old days and he was making signs about some guys being too small to guard him all that stuff was there this is as we talk about the beginning this is the beginning of what might be a real fun renewal of the Knicks Pacers rivalry because this Pacers team obviously is not an old team they’re going to be around for the next couple of years you’ll be dealing with this guy and you’re going to have to figure out how to guard him and how to stop him in game five he was passive and it was weird for a lot of people in Indiana couldn’t understand why why he was so passive he was not passive to start this game in the first quarter he put up his shots and he broke this game over you see him pointing there he’s not pointing to a teammate he’s pointing to somebody that was sitting along the front row and he was having a good time talking to Nick fans about it that’s also so part of playing on the great stage of the garden especially in a game seven is the opponent gets up two and if you’re trash talking him some guys will shrink and some guys will rise to the occasion halberton Rose to the occasion and you can expect you would hope that these two teams meet up some more in some important games and it’s time for the Knicks to get some get back maybe the next time but that’s what’s fun people can’t you know you got to remember this is upsetting to lose but think about where this is building too and now you can see another team in the East and you’re saying we’re going to see them again and it could be a lot of fun halberton 26 14 in the first quarter Nicks Wally were down by 15 at the half and the Nicks got within six yep at 7367 in the third quarter and you’re thinking oh maybe we got something here but couple of key sequences out of a timeout they had a 5-second violation off of a make the uh Nixon turn it over right away off an inbounds and that changed things around and the Pacers was able to reassert their domination if Flip Saunders you know the late great Flip Saunders rest in peace he he always used to say when you get all V for you’ll see how sharp my dragon claws are in no time First Blood an ally has been defeated only weaklings need help your tower has been destroyed you have been defeated our base is under attack against me you’ll die a hor Purble death don’t think it’s over executed I never forgive executed I feel a bit B thinking of going against me you’ll die a horrible death executed executed our base is under attack defeat e e all got haste makes waste [Music] First Blood eat this you have defeated an enemy sh it

“Damn it, damn it! The injury has ruined our title dreams” – Stephen A. Smith reacts to Knicks eliminated from NBA Playoff as 130109 lose to Pacers