The Knicks… are not too smart

[NoStatsGuy]

Ducking teams is for losers…

this

[rapluva]

As a Raptor fan..I can say this if you are competing for a championship, who cares which team is in front of you, knock anyone down who tries to stop you'll.

I would say, I hope you'll get the 76ers and not the Heat. Embid ain't winning nothing, players who flop all game can't win a championship, if you'll can get Maxey under control..you should be fine..

Would have been nice to have Randall on the roster.. but having a defensive mindset type of players.. you should be fine..

[Mamba81p]

Unsure if you watched the game or not

You mean the part where our starters were more concerned with their post-game dinner booking, and Mazzulla was openly criticised for playing them in such a meaningless contest due to having a 15 game buffer since wrapping up #1 seed three weeks prior?

Congratulations on the #2 seed, believe me, absolutely no one outside of New York thinks April 11th meant a single thing. Its not quite the 'reality' you're after

No I meant the part were Mazzulla rolled out his entire starting lineup for a " meaningless contest" , then got summarily spanked on his own home floor. Having a 15 game buffer does change the fact of the butt whipping, and putting in all your starters doesn't imply a lack of concern for winning.

So not only did you get embarrassed by a compromised team.. your coach lacked the tact o give the Knicks any credit. I'm not surprised that Boston fans would follow suit.

You do realize that it's just a regular season game right?

[cgf]

So honestly, just answer the question; if you had a choice, would you rather meet the Pacers or Sixers in a best of seven series?

I'd rather have HCA against the Bucks than worry about which low seeded team I'm playing.

Yes, but neither Miami nor Philadelphia is a typical “low seeded team”; Miami plays better than anyone in the playoffs and the Sixers with Embiid playing have been a juggernaut. In a playoffs environment, both the Sixers and the Heat are top five teams in the East. The Knicks will now have to beat one of them, then Giannis, then the Celtics. Additonally, the separation between the #2 team and the #8 team has never been narrower as every team is loaded with talent and a lot depends on shooting variance on wide open threes.

Knicks have been my favorite team to watch this year, though, and I can’t help but root for Brunson.

A juggernaut we beat by over 30 points and on a night where Embiid was -29.

[cgf]

Will be nice to see how quiet the nba spaces are when knicks get bounced out early yet again. Celebrating 50 wins like it's 70 and are poised for a finals bout.

"yet again"?

[GiannisAnte34]

Here we go with Middleton again. The gift that keeps on giving. But the subject was tanking and it was costly for the Bucks. They could have beaten the Celtics without Middleton,and homecourt but they chose to avoid the Nets.

Apparently Tatum can’t get out of round 1 with a missing co-Star but Giannis is that much better that he should carry a team past the Finals representative for the conference?

....and we continue to dance around the topic of losing a game on purpose and it blowing up in Milwaukee 's face. Their fear of the Nets cost them. That is the topic of the thread

Right the Bucks had the opportunity to close it at home in game 6, does flip flopping the games really change the outcome? No, the Celtics had more talent so they won. It’s not any more strategic than that.

[blueNorange]

Will be nice to see how quiet the nba spaces are when knicks get bounced out early yet again. Celebrating 50 wins like it's 70 and are poised for a finals bout.

We don’t even know if your team will even be in the playoffs…so there’s that

They may very well not. Not deluded enough to think they're '17 Warrriors unlike some in regard to their team in the occasions they actually make the playoffs. That's the point.

if the knicks being good gets you this upset then buddy you need to reevaluate your life

[iLLmatic860]

Will be nice to see how quiet the nba spaces are when knicks get bounced out early yet again. Celebrating 50 wins like it's 70 and are poised for a finals bout.

"yet again"?

Lmao dudes can’t even be honest. Last year Knicks making the 2nd around was considered “overachieving”. Now suddenly “they got bounced out early”

Stop the cap lol

[Jadoogar]

God why is this losing talk so rampant on this board right now? Teams don't care who they face, they're confident in their ability to beat anyone. Or at least they should be. Losing on purpose to draw another team is weak, loser mentality and no one in the NBA thinks this. Fans are weird.

Cavs tanked yesterday's game to play Orlando. Hopefully the basketball gods reward them accordingly.

[Lemmie_live]

[kaansunman]

Loosing delibaretely wouldn't fit to this team that Coach Thibs created. It will be wiser to stay on 3rd and match up against young Pacers team instead of Philly or Miami of course but it would be a betrayal for the spirit of this team.
Long, sleepless MSG nights are ahead of us.

[RHODEY]

You mean the part where our starters were more concerned with their post-game dinner booking, and Mazzulla was openly criticised for playing them in such a meaningless contest due to having a 15 game buffer since wrapping up #1 seed three weeks prior?

Congratulations on the #2 seed, believe me, absolutely no one outside of New York thinks April 11th meant a single thing. Its not quite the 'reality' you're after

No I meant the part were Mazzulla rolled out his entire starting lineup for a " meaningless contest" , then got summarily spanked on his own home floor. Having a 15 game buffer does change the fact of the butt whipping, and putting in all your starters doesn't imply a lack of concern for winning.

So not only did you get embarrassed by a compromised team.. your coach lacked the tact o give the Knicks any credit. I'm not surprised that Boston fans would follow suit.

You do realize that it's just a regular season game right?

Love the excuses.

[JXL]

Stupid thread. First 50 win season in 23 years and the second seed down one all star. Tanking for position is cowardly and a fools game

11 years. They hit 54 wins in 2013.

[DOT]

I don't see the point in trying to avoid matchups in the playoffs, cause you're gonna have to face good teams no matter what

Yeah, better odds to win the first round is nice, but at the same time you're there to win it all, so you gotta beat the best regardless

I thought this was gonna be a thread about like, that time the Knicks overpaid a bunch of guys after 2021, and then needed to trade away picks to get out of their contracts to have the space to sign Brunson, or that time we traded the 11th pick in 2022 for a bunch of future 1sts that won't convey and missed out on Jalen Williams who went 12th, or that time we traded the 19th pick in 2021 for a top 18 protected future pick, or that time this FO picked Obi Toppin 8th over Tyrese Haliburton, or that time they signed Evan Fournier to a $73 million dollar deal only to bench him after the first season

Plenty to criticize them for, but not tanking the last game isn't one of those things.

[RHODEY]

You mean the part where our starters were more concerned with their post-game dinner booking, and Mazzulla was openly criticised for playing them in such a meaningless contest due to having a 15 game buffer since wrapping up #1 seed three weeks prior?

Congratulations on the #2 seed, believe me, absolutely no one outside of New York thinks April 11th meant a single thing. Its not quite the 'reality' you're after

No I meant the part were Mazzulla rolled out his entire starting lineup for a " meaningless contest" , then got summarily spanked on his own home floor. Having a 15 game buffer does change the fact of the butt whipping, and putting in all your starters doesn't imply a lack of concern for winning.

So not only did you get embarrassed by a compromised team.. your coach lacked the tact o give the Knicks any credit. I'm not surprised that Boston fans would follow suit.

What is it that you are trying to suggest? That its representative of something?

Are the Knicks now better than the Celtics? Should we be worried about the 11 April ? Has reality hit!?

It was an utterly meaningless game for us, we know, you know it, the entire commentary around the game observed it - the exact same observations made the night before when putting out a similarly lacklustre effort against the Bucks. The fact you've referenced it in response to a genuine criticism of the approach to playoff seeding is funny.

But if you want to hold onto avoiding being swept 4-0 in the season series, that is your prerogative.

I'm more than happy to give the Knicks credit, Brunson is one of my favourite players, the NBA is better when the Knicks are good.

Unfortunately your fanbase don't make it easy on yourselves !

Watch on YouTube

Keep repeating that it was "meaningless"...but then why play all your guys? We both know you had enough fear of the Knicks to rollout all your guns ...and you still got stomped.

Are the knicks better? We aren't more talented but we have the best player on the court though...

Miami during the last playoffs was the less talented team....but they were better than you when it counted. In the end you guys havent proven anything.

In fact you show signs of being soft, overconfident, and coasting on your talent. So the reality is you can be beat again.

[WestbrookGOATed]

Gotta beat the best to be the best. Throwing that game for a more favorable match up would show the players managements lack of confidence in them.

[GeorgeSears]

Gotta beat the best to be the best. Throwing that game for a more favorable match up would show the players managements lack of confidence in them.

It worked for the Clippers in 2021 when the blatantly avoided the Lakers in a round 1 matchup and made it all the way to WCF.

The Knicks should be applauded for wanting "all the smoke" against Embiid and Sixers, but there has been proof that ducking works.

[cgf]

I don't see the point in trying to avoid matchups in the playoffs, cause you're gonna have to face good teams no matter what

Yeah, better odds to win the first round is nice, but at the same time you're there to win it all, so you gotta beat the best regardless

I thought this was gonna be a thread about like, that time the Knicks overpaid a bunch of guys after 2021, and then needed to trade away picks to get out of their contracts to have the space to sign Brunson, or that time we traded the 11th pick in 2022 for a bunch of future 1sts that won't convey and missed out on Jalen Williams who went 12th, or that time we traded the 19th pick in 2021 for a top 18 protected future pick, or that time this FO picked Obi Toppin 8th over Tyrese Haliburton, or that time they signed Evan Fournier to a $73 million dollar deal only to bench him after the first season

Plenty to criticize them for, but not tanking the last game isn't one of those things.

FWIW, though Washington's pick may never convey, the Milwaukee & Detroit picks probably will. The Detroit pick might even end up just as juicy as the 11th overall we gave up for it. We gave up a mountain of SRPs and missed out on J-dub, but there's a good chance of a steal being available with that Pistons pick whenever it converts.

Obi was certainly a mistake even keeping in mind the season Julius was coming off of; the Fournier/Walker summer was a massive overcorrection to the lack of shot-making around Julius in the playoffs; and I still feel like they could've done better at the deadline than Bogey + Burks...but I have their 2022 draft maneuvers in the plus column.

[cgf]

Gotta beat the best to be the best. Throwing that game for a more favorable match up would show the players managements lack of confidence in them.

It worked for the Clippers in 2021 when the blatantly avoided the Lakers in a round 1 matchup and made it all the way to WCF.

The Knicks should be applauded for wanting "all the smoke" against Embiid and Sixers, but there has been proof that ducking works.

It also backfired on the Bucks recently. So ducking isn't foolproof and a team's confidence can be huge in the playoffs.

[iLLmatic860]

The more I think about it..I want all the smoke vs Miami

but even if Sixers win. Do y'all actually think the Nova boys are scared of Philly? That's where they had some of their most successful years in their career. Players like Brunson thrive in hostile environments.

But Miami fans was talking mad greasy last year. I want that smoke but Spo worries me more than anything. He always clearly outcoaches Thibs