On Sunday evening, the New York Knicks picked up a narrow home win over the Golden State Warriors at Madison Square Garden. It was the first game back at home for the Knicks after a recent lengthy West Coast trip, and the team at one point found themselves down by 21 points against a Warriors team playing without Stephen Curry and a slew of others, before ultimately rallying for the win.
Still, it wasn't exactly an encouraging performance for a Knicks team that has been slipping of late, and recently, ESPN sports media personality and noted New York fan Stephen A. Smith broke down his concern with the team.
“I'm sick. … I had the New York Knicks going to the Finals. I damn sure don't have that now,” said Smith, per First Take on X, formerly Twitter.
Indeed, many analysts projected the Knicks to be a Finals-level team heading into this season. However, the emergence of the Detroit Pistons, who have owned New York in their matchups so far this year, as well as the surprising play of the Boston Celtics, who sit at number two in the East and recently got Jayson Tatum back from his Achilles injury, have undermined those plans, and now, some have the Knicks as far down as number four in the East in terms of likelihood to make the Finals.
New York struggled during its recent road trip, losing in blowout fashion to both the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, and struggling mightily to beat the lowly Utah Jazz.
The Knicks will want to turn things around over the final month of the regular season in order to hit the playoffs playing their best basketball, and not in the slump they seem to be encountering at the currenct juncture.
