Derrick Rose knows what it takes to win a series in the playoffs, which is why he is warning the New York Knicks and getting them mentally prepared before they start the postseason on Sunday.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Rose kept it real and acknowledged they are going to get smoked if they underestimate their opponents and not play as hard as they can right from the start.
"If we don't come out and play hard," Derrick Rose says, "they're going to smoke us."
— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) May 21, 2021
Derrick Rose has made the playoffs six times in his career, with the last coming in 2018 when he was with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2011 with the Chicago Bulls, who was under the tutelage of head coach Tom Thibodeau at that time.
He had his fair share of playoff heartbreaks as well, which is why he knows very well that winning a game in the postseason is no easy feat, much more claiming a series.
While the Knicks finished ahead the Hawks in the East Standings with a 3-0 sweep in their season series, they still can't get complacent. Not with Trae Young running the show on the other side. He's been phenomenal for Atlanta in 2020-21, averaging 25.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 9.4 assists while shooting 43.8 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from deep.
Aside from Young, the Hawks have several talents in the likes of Clint Capela, John Collins and Bogdan Bogdanovic that should only make life harder for Rose and the Knicks.
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