The New York Knicks had a good season and a good run in the NBA Playoffs, but it came to an end on Saturday with a loss against the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Knicks have a very talented roster, and they pulled off some miraculous wins during their run, but their luck ran out. At the end of the day, the massive deficits that they were facing consistently were a sign of what was to come.
While the Knicks did make a good run to the Eastern Conference Finals, they were far from perfect. New York was taken to six games in the first round of the playoffs against the Pistons, and the team was outplayed in a good number of those games. Detroit had big leads in the fourth quarter of a couple of games that it lost.
In the second round, the Knicks came back from down 20+ twice. The comebacks were impressive, but they weren't sustainable.
“This is a team that routinely was behind trying to claw itself back with weird lineups and whatever,” Bill Simmons said during an episode of his podcast. “And I think at some point you are who you are with that stuff.”
Article Continues BelowNow let's think about the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are heavily favored in the NBA Finals against the Pacers. OKC has been one of the best teams in the league all year, and the team has been dominant in the playoffs. The Knicks are a ways away from that.
“Look at OKC, who's f**king awesome and is putting together one of the great seasons in the history of the league,” Simmons continued. “They killed teams at home, every time they played at home, basically, except for that first Denver game, they were destroying the other team. And at some point, that's kind of you are who you are. And I think the reverse with the Knicks is like if you're five guys together, as good as they are on paper, don't play that well together, and then we get to the playoffs and you're always falling behind at some point, that has to mean something right.”
This run is something that the Knicks should be proud of, but it will be a tough one to replicate given how many times they needed to come from behind to win. This easily could've been a first-round exit type of season.
Now, the Knicks are done, and only two teams remain. Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Pacers and Thunder will go down on Thursday night at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. The game will get underway at 7:30 CT, and it will be airing on ABC. The Thunder are currently favored by 9.5 points.