New York Knicks vs Boston Celtics Eastern Conference Semi-Finals Game 1 Preview w/ Bobby Manning

New York Knicks vs Boston Celtics Eastern Conference Semi-Finals Game 1 Preview w/ Bobby Manning

Yo, what up Knicks nation? Welcome back to another game of the week preview. You already know what it is. Knicks made it past the Detroit Pistons. Now we get the match up we’ve been waiting for for years, people. For years. We get that match up between the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics. And who better help preview this game, none other than my guy Bobby Manning returning. So fitting, man, that we had a discussion earlier this year. Now these teams get to meet up. So we’re going to break it all down. Make sure hit that thumbs up button for your boys. Make sure to subscribe to the channel if you haven’t already done so. Make sure to support our sponsor, Underdog Fantasy. Use that promo code KFTV to get up to $1,000 in instant bonus cash and a free pick. And don’t forget to go to the watch party at the Aworth on Monday, 5:30 sharp. Door’s going to open. You already know what it is. It’s going to be a vibe over there. Bobby, my man, how you been, bro? How you how you feeling? I’m feeling good. I’m excited for this. I’m sure we said earlier in the year this was going to happen. So, I don’t think either of us are surprised that they’re meeting up in round two. that they’re going to have a lot of stakes here for both sides and it’s going to be fun. And like you said, it’s been since 2013 and that was a long time ago. That was KG, that was Pierce, that was Melo. It was a much different time. Knicks were the better team then. Celtics are the better team now. But there’s still going to be a lot of hype on both sides. I was saying that in our pod, the Garden Report there. Like this is going to have a lot of energy, electricity around it. I’m interested to see how many fans invade the opposing arena. I know you’ll be invading TD Garden on game one. So, this this is going to be fun. Now, how good of a series is this going to be? That’s what we’re going to debate here. That is surely what we’re going to debate. And look, I didn’t give you the proper introduction. First of all, let me let me just say Bobby Bobby over here. He covers the Celtics for Celtics CLNS. And you can go find him over at the Garden Report as he just mentioned. So, make sure you go tap tap in over there to go get that full Nick Celtics coverage, too. All right. This man’s a full-on reporter. He’s got the he got he gets the inside scoop on the team. Okay. But look, how good of a series is it going to be, man? Uh if we go by the regular season, it should lead me to be depressed, but I don’t know, man. The G the last game of the regular season, and I know Jaylen Brown was dealing with the knee injury. All right. I know some guys were out, but something about that gives me a little bit more hope that this that this time will be like we’ll get some competition, man. how it goes. You know, we we’ll give our predictions at the end, but uh yeah, I’m I have a little bit of hope that it’ll be a little bit more competitive than what we saw for the first three games of the regular season, but if it’s anything like that, man, it’s going to be a tough watch, man. Absolutely tough watch. Yeah. And I heard the Knicks fans say it all year. I was skeptical of it. Mitchell Robinson, when he’s back, things are going to be different. And it was in that last game there. And you know, you mentioned the Jaylen piece, which is important. and he went out in the third quarter, didn’t come back in that game. Uh Celtics still, you know, tie the game late, force overtime, win overtime 12-10 and take the series sweep. But there’s a lot more hope in that game between Brunson’s performance. You saw Brenson in the last series and what he did. You should definitely take some stock in that, carry that over to the next round and have some hope on that front. Towns was great last series. He torched Tatum in that last game when they tried to defend Towns with Tatum there. So there’s definitely some hope you can look at in that last game. And the big one’s Robinson. They can play a little bigger. They can move towns away from the five where he really struggled against Boston defensively. You can have some room protection out there behind Brunson and, you know, whatever else ends up, you know, going wrong on the perimeter there defensively. So there’s a lot to like there, but still Celtics able to mostly get whatever they want offensively in this series throughout the year. And the first two games were massive blowouts. Third game was a rock fight. Celtics still figured out a way to win that one. And then even in the fourth game where the Knicks played their best, Celtics still took it late. Porzingis hitting a, you know, half court shot pretty much there over Brunson. And he hit eight threes in that game. Holiday was really good in this match up throughout the year. Tatum was amazing. Guys off the bench contributed for Boston, too. It’s just, it’s so crazy to think about because we said it coming in this year, Alex. The Knicks built this roster to compete with the Celtics and they just didn’t compete with the Celtics during the year. Yeah. And I think the biggest thing for the Knicks too is, you know, getting a little bit of relief, right? Is that uh the bench for the Knicks has been woeful and especially if you watch the first series against Detroit, McBride was almost unplayable. Uh campaign outside of game one, you know, couldn’t really play him. He’s not setting up that second unit. Mitchell Robinson was a bright spot outside of I think it was game five where he was dealing with an illness. Is that either four or five? I can’t remember right now. Um I didn’t see much Land Andrew Shamut. No, he’s not out there either. So, it’s it’s gone from what would be like a during the regular season nineman rotation down to uh six and a half. So, it’s that’s going to be tough against the Celtics considering that you have plentiful depth, right? I mean, outside of the starting five where you have Drew, Derek White, Brown, Tatum, and then you got KP out there. You got Horford, you got uh you got what? You got Pritchard on the bench, you know, you got Hower, you guys got a lot of guys on that bench that can actually be inserted and cause some damage. And I mean, even Luke Cornet, I’ll give him some props there, too, because even in that last match up, he was doing his thing. And so with a legitimate nine that you guys can run out there, this is in a series where Tib is gonna have to trust the bench. But that’s the big thing. Does he trust the bench enough? He didn’t even trust him against the Detroit Pistons where theoretically you should have had a little bit more wiggle wiggle room there considering if you look at these rosters on paper, right? Like you look at the Knicks, you look at the Pistons, it’s Cade and and a lot of role players. and then you look at the Knicks roster and you’re like that team should have easily handled the the Pistons and yet they struggled a little bit. So this is where I feel like if we’re talking about what’s going to be the turning point for this series is that Tatum Brown, all those guys are going to come in rested and the Knicks starters are going to have to be able to just battle through 40 minutes on a regular basis if they’re going to keep up with the Celtics, which that’s a tall order, man. Especially for how talented the Celtics are. Yeah. And I’ve always gone back and forth those minutes things. I’m sure you guys have too a million times. Oh, you’re a book man. Tom, it’s a conversation every year, every second down. It never stops, right? So, I don’t know what the impact of that will be. Obviously, they come into the series healthy. I know Brunson looked banged up at times, but still putting up 30 plus pretty much every game. So, not too much concern there. I’ll be interested to see how the Celtics are coming into this one. Specifically, Holiday practiced the last two days, didn’t play the last three games of that last series. So, I’d still say up in the air a little bit for game one at least. Uh, but trending in the right direction toward him at least being available. But, those hamstring injuries nag a little bit. And, uh, you know, Tatum’s got the wrist, Brown’s got the knee. Seems like they both went in a better direction as that series progressed. But, something to watch for because it does feel like the Knicks are maybe just a little bit healthier to start this series than the Celtics are. And, you know, those are little advantages you have to steal if you’re New York because I think on paper, you look at this thing, it it’s going to be tough. You know, Brunson’s going to get attacked. Towns is going to get attacked. It’s not a great defensive team that New York rolled out there throughout the season. But OG was great defending Tatum and Brown. You know, you held them to six to 25. Bridges can compete defensively out there, too. And the bigger lineup to me, when you talk about Tibido and the flexibility and using the bench and all that sort of stuff, you you want to see him go there in this series, you want to see him use that size. You want to see him almost treat Robinson like a starter. and maybe they start Robinson in this series if things go wrong early. I think that’s definitely an adjustment you look at if you’re them. And I think that’s how you challenge a smaller Celtics lineup because they’re obviously if they’re healthy going to start Tatum Brown, Porzingis at center, Holiday White. So you go double big against that. That maybe puts Boston in a little bit of an uncomfortable uh position there, especially with the offensive rebounding. So, off the bat, just looking at this series from afar, I don’t see it being a super competitive one, but there are some ways the Knicks can creep into this one, challenge. Maybe some things change as the series goes on. Injuries are the developments there, and you work your way into a tougher five, six, seven game series. Uh, but right now, everyone’s available, both sides fully loaded. I feel really good about the Celtics in this one. So, let me ask you this because you you brought up injuries twice now and I know Jaylen Brown was dealing with a knee injury. Um, I know Drew Holidayiday missed some time, too, and I know from what you said he was back at practice today. So, what’s the what’s the status on both of those guys right now? Because you talked about health, Nick’s guys outside of Jaylen Brunson who, you know, almost every single game was, you know, nursing that ankle injury that he dealt with after playing the Lakers earlier this season. You know, he’s still being he’s still out there. He’s still competing. I mean, he dropped 40 points in a closeout game. So the ankle can’t be that bad to go out there and go do that. But what is it what is the what does it look like from the Celtics, especially after playing Orlando? Yeah, for Brown going into it, I think it’s pain tolerance. I think it has been going back to the regular season and you know, he leaves that game against New York, rest the final three, gets a shot, looks much better coming back for the start of the first round there. And game two, Tatum misses against Orlando and Brown just had a Tats game, stepping right into his shoes there, playing 41 minutes. The series overall, he shot well, had good moments. Then there’ll be halves, there’ll be quarters, maybe couple plays where he looks a little limited physically and he’s certainly not flying up and down the floor and dunking the way he usually was. So with Brown, I think it’s less is he going to miss a game and more is he going to be himself, especially as the series progresses. And this is going to be an every other day sort of series, I think, after the gap between two and three. So this could be a longer series. This could be a more strenuous series potentially here if you do have to play more minutes to go up against how many minutes the Knicks starters are going to play. So you just see how that develops over a course of a series. He was on the injury report for the last three games of that Magic series, but you knew he was going to play and he ended up playing pretty well through it. So, I feel good about him going in with Holiday. Again, I feel good that he was at practice. I don’t know where he suffered that injury. I don’t know the grade. I don’t know how severe it was, but it was severe enough to hold him out three games late in that series. Was that being ultra cautious? Was that saying this is the start of a run? This is in the finals. We’re going to ease him into the second round there. That might be what this is. But again, hamstrings are tricky, especially for a 34 year old. And he has a vital role in this series, right? He’ll probably cover town some. He’ll probably be the starting point at Brunson. He was for much of the year in those matchups. And he shot really well. He’s a guy who can attack Brunson himself a little bit because Brunson’s probably going to guard him out of all options on the Celtics here. So he, you know, I just said it on my show, he’s the Celtics X factor in this series to me. Holiday is especially because the Knicks offense is dynamic. You’re going to need a guy like him who can guard multiple positions and more so just, you know, conduct the defense, right? He’s the guy telling them when to go in the zone if that’s the best option. He’s the guy telling them to press if that’s the best thing to do in a situation. He’s their quarterback out there. So, they missed him a lot. They outscored the Magic by 19 points per 100 when he was on the floor in that series. And I think the margin was like four when he was out. So, it was a big difference in that series. Magic won a game and were much more competitive in the next two once he went down. Salute to Next. Thank you all for tuning for another game of the week preview. With me on the other side is my guy Bobby Manning. He covers the Celtics and the NBA for Celtics CLNS and CLNS media and he’s also over at the Garden Report. That’s where you go. Make sure to go check out the show over there. All right. Make sure hit that thumbs up button for your boys. Make sure to subscribe to the channel. You talk about Holiday being the Celtics X factor and I can totally see that regardless of injury just because he’s so versatile at that position, right? And as you mentioned, he can guard Towns prior to even the Towns trade. We’ve seen him guard Julius when he was on this team and he gives bigger like bigs just a it gives him a difficult time because one, he can get under, right, and just like he gets more leverage. Two, he’s actually deceptively strong for the guard position when you’re starting to guard bigs. So for Towns that this is where like I understand him as the X-actor because if you’re going to put him on Towns is Towns going to then say, “Hey, let me go shoot some threes and just shoot over him.” Is that how that’s how I would like it to see him play just because use your height and doing that? And that’s what the the Knicks failed to do in the first couple of matchups, right? And he failed to be aggressive in doing that. And what I know that the Celtics like to do is like Tom Tibido his style, yo, work the paint. go attack the paint. And every time they put Drew on him, it’s like, “Oh, let me just go down low since I’m bigger than him and let me go get an easier shot with try to overpower him.” Yeah. Yeah. And so that plays to what the Celtics want. I was like, “All right, you take twos, we’ll continue to take threes because you already know Celtics will jack up as many threes as possible.” And so I feel like in this matchup, if that’s what Drew Holiday is going to do, which not no surprise that that’s probably the game plan, Knicks need to be a little bit more savvy and just figure out, all right, how do we keep towns on the perimeter and get him putting up threes because it’s such a great point. Yeah. Yeah. Because once they do that, then it’ll open up the lanes for the Knicks. And that’s the other issue is that by doing that, it closes the lanes. Yeah. And I I pulled up the numbers and it blew my mind when I saw it because it was the most glaring stat I saw of all the stats. I looked at from the regular season in this series is that Towns averaged two three-pointers a game against the Celtics in this matchup. He could he couldn’t find threes and that’s his game at this point in his career at the very least is getting those threes up and hitting them at a high rate. You know, he only averaged like what four or five per game during the year. It’s not like he was taking 10, but that’s pretty much cutting his attempts in half there and not even giving him opportunities to get those extra points out there. And I know there’s a team that was bottom 10 in three-point attempts. And in that matchup specifically, Celtics really dominated the three-point attempt battle uh over them. And that’s an easy stat for them to win most nights. The Magic took it away from them, and you saw the impact of that. So, you know, the Knicks probably aren’t going to be able to take away the three from Boston. So, they have to find ways to get them up. And that’s going to be on Brunson, you know, stepping around some screens and taking those. It’s going to be on Towns being aggressive and quick with those when he gets the opportunities and not trying to overpower a guy. and you post them up and back him down from the three-point line and in there. And I think you saw a lot of that on the tape there. Celtic’s going to switch him. You know, they’re going to give up size there. And like you said, I thought the whole story of that last game, Towns is 34, but it was all twos. It was all tough twos. It was all flip shots, hook shots, and he was amazing. I thought he really torched Tatum in that game. Uh but they kept him off the three-point line, and that’s a win for them. And I think beyond that, that’s obviously the game plan, but I also think the game plan for the Celtics is going to be generally let Brunson get his, let Towns get his. Those guys both score 2030. That’s fine. Just don’t let anyone else go off. And you look when you look at the production from the other guys across the board in this matchup, you didn’t see anything from OG. You didn’t see much from Bridges. Hart was pretty limited. So those guys have to contribute if they’re going to be able to win a shootout, which I think is probably how the Knicks are gonna have to win these games is by scoring more points than the Celtics, obviously. Absolutely. I agree. And that’s the whole point of like why it was put together. It’s like, hey, you know, we need offense. And when you watch the Knicks over the past couple of seasons, how they played, it’s like you get enough offense from Brunson and everybody else has been pretty spotty. you know, outside of OG last year against uh even for both Philly and against the Pacers, he was probably the second best guy who could score on that team next to Duce McBride. And to your point, yeah, everyone’s going to have to just shoot very well this series. And the Knicks have yet to do that against the Celtics, as you point out during the year. I mean, they shot 42% was it? Uh, no, sorry. They shot they shot decently. They shot 47% from the field, but downtown is where they struggled a little bit. Uh they shot 35% which you know not necessarily it’s not close to what their average can be. They’re a great three-point shooting team from a percentage standpoint but they need to put up more than what they’ve currently done. And it’s funny that you talked about Josh Hart because that’s going to be my X- factor for this series because every time I’ve watched every time I’ve watched him play against the Celtics he struggles because one the mismatch of like who he has to guard, right? And the last one it was against Jaylen Brown. I know they just circle him around. Sometimes he has gets a Derek White assignment and it just, you know, mixes and matches, but to me, he’s the guy that can really change things this series because we know he likes to get downhill on attack. He doesn’t really get that much going in transition against the Celtics just because they’re always good at getting back in trans in transition and stopping those type of plays. But then three-point percentage- wise, you know, Josh, especially during the during the beginning of the year, he was very competent. shot a 37 12% rate from downtown on like three to four attempts per game. But I’m looking at the numbers here throughout the entire four games that he’s played against the Celtics. He’s averaging 11% from downtown on only a little over two attempts per game. And so we need more than that from Josh. Like he needs to be aggressive when he’s open. If that’s what he’s going to do, they’re going to ignore him. They’re going to put Porzingis on him. They’re going to have Porzingis standing at the rim defensively from the jump. Yeah, I think that’s going to be the game plan. And you know, Jaylen did get asked about that today. He said, “Yeah, that’s probably how we’ll start this thing.” It’s not necessarily how we’ll defend the whole series, but that is what they did during the year. And you know, one thing I’ll give hard is he’s not one of those guys who’s just going to stand out there and keep launching. Like, he would dribble in. He would get to the floater. He would get to, you know, some of those in between shots and tough finishes. But you said it with Towns. Like, those are the shots the Celtics want them taking and they’re more than happy to take it sometimes and they’re good at it. So, you know, you give that to Brunson, you give that to Hart, you give that to Towns, those guys are definitely tough two-point shot makers, but if the Celtics are putting out 53s the other way, it just becomes such a tough math battle. So, they got to get to the free throw line. The offensive rebounding is big. That’s why I keep looking at Robinson and Hart, too, right? You know, he’s a guy that can get in there and make that stuff happen, too. They’re probably going to trade minutes a little bit if they go to Mort Robinson, but they got to find some ways to narrow the gap with the shooting because the shooting effective field goal was like 61 to 53 in this match up during the year. Now, is that going to happen here? Probably not. You know, tougher defense and, you know, there just more attention to detail, I’m sure, over the course of a series and more adjustments and all that different kind of stuff. But they’re probably going to lose that battle. So, they got to win the offensive glass, got to win the free throws, they got to force turnovers. They really didn’t turn the Celtics over much in this matchup throughout the year, but they did force 15 in that last game. So, listen, last game, you look at it, Robinson did his thing. You forced turnovers. Brunson had a huge game. There’s a lot of really good stuff in that last game of the year. Did it mean a ton for Boston? No. So, maybe that factors into why they weren’t as good in that game. But, it’s the only thing you can look at from the regular season and say that’s what it’s going to look like for the Knicks. And to me, it is going to have to be probably Robinson starting eventually or at least playing a lot more than he did in round one. Uh it’s probably going to have to be figuring out ways to get town some shots and not just having Brunson shoot 30 shots, which they’ll allow him to do if that’s what he wants to do. And so there’s there’s some paths to competitiveness here, but it’s going to be really hard. You think so? Like I want Mitchell Robinson starting. I think you know you got to get a little wonky when you start playing the Celtics just because what we did we already saw during the regular season as you pointed out it it hasn’t worked right like even our at our best when Robinson was back he didn’t play much he was still on a minutes restriction but like that was damn near perfect and Celtics still won an OT with you know Jaylen Brown who’d even play essentially the second half. So my big thing is like yes I want Mitch to play because I know he’s going get the offensive boards. I know he’s going to deter guys from driving the lane, but my big thing too, like my the only thing that conflicts me with wanting that is that the Celtics play a true five out and he’s not good at carding the five out, you know what I mean? So that’s like the biggest thing. It’s like you want your rim protector there, but unless Tibs ran a zone, it’s just like to me it’s like that’s like the biggest conundrum for me where if he ran his own, I could say, “All right, I can see this working if the guys were just able to shift over to wherever the ball was being swung.” But if you’re going to be playing man, which Tibs likes to run, and then if you’re going to be playing drop, which also Tibs likes to run, the drop’s a killer. Yeah, it’s against this team, it’s just that’s not what it is. And I know he’s been last series he said he had OG on Cade and they do like some stunts, they blitz, they did a lot of different like they showed a lot just to get the ball out of Kad’s hands. This is not necessarily the team you want to do that with just because everyone’s a playmaker, everyone’s a shooter, everyone could defend. It’s this is like why this is a very fascinating matchup for the Knicks because either way if they win or lose this series, you learn a lot more about this team and how they should move moving forward. But getting back to the whole Mitchell Robinson thing, does any part of that think like does that even going to work? Like when you like you’re talking about saying, “Hey, it’s going to help get offensive boards, but like think about the five out system that the Celtics run.” Do you think he’s even going to make that much of an impact? I don’t love it. Right. Because I do like Tatum around the screens pulling up. I saw him doing it at practice today. He nailed a shot at one point and doing that kind of action that you’re probably going to see against a drop. And that’s comfortable for him. That’s comfortable for a lot of guys on this team. And so you’re just giving up threes there if you’re doing that if you’re New York. And you know, it’s good to take away the rim and the drive and kick game and all that, but you know, it’s just something Boston’s comfortable playing against. And then putting two on the ball, which I saw in the tape, too, in this matchup. That’s something Boston’s comfortable. And that opens up the Howers and the Whites of the world and gets those guys going. So, you look at what the Magic did, and I know the Knicks don’t have the Magic’s personnel, so it’s hard to do this, but they were successful in switching everything, defending Tatum and Brown straight up, letting those guys get theirs, right? What we just talked about with the Knicks, and shutting down everybody else, and the Magic did that perfectly. It’s unreal what the Magic did defensively last series against Boston. It’s the best defense I’ve seen any team play against the Celtics over the last two years. And I know it was a fiveame series. It was about as tough of a five games as you’ll ever see. So, if I’m the Knicks, I’m looking at what the Magic did. And I know it’s not the same personnel, but I’m trying to emulate some of that stuff. Like, don’t double team Tatum often. Don’t let him just pass out to those shooters. Don’t be dropping off him around screens. You got to be able to switch a little bit and compete. And there, you know, they’re not going to switch Robinson every time, right? But there were some competitive switches for him in that last game. He’s a guy that can show a little bit on the ball and then recover to the rim. So, like they’re going to have to get creative with the coverages here cuz you can’t just leave a simple read for the Celtics, whether it’s a shot or a pass. Like, they’re going to make that happen. And when the ball just starts flying around against rotations, that’s when it’s game over and they’re shooting 53s and making 25 of them. So, yeah, they’re going to have to get really creative defensively. I think forcing turnovers is going to be super important for them. It’s hard to do against Boston, but they’re just going to have to do it. And then the size, they got to win the position battle. And that’s I think something they can do. Robinson’s great on the offensive glass. Town should be able to impact that part of the game. Like that really is their big road to narrowing the gap against this team is getting a lot of offensive rebounding, win that battle, force more turnovers, and just try to get that math advantage back because they’re just not going to win the three-point battle. It’s just not going to happen. So, is that the big thing you would say you’re looking out for is like looking out for the rebounding battle, do you think? Because I said this in the last series against the Pistons that whoever wins the rebounding battle uh is most likely winning the game and boy did that series just decide to say absolutely not because Knicks were losing the rebounding battle more than I think they only won one game in the rebounding battle and that game they actually lost. And so is that what you’re looking at in this series? Do you think the rebounding battle is going to be that huge considering that you know the Celtics are one of the better shooting teams just in general? Because you know, you look at them right now in the playoffs. They’re fifth, right? During the regular season, they ranked uh what was it? They ranked they ranked, give me a second as I final. First in attempts. You already know that. Yeah, I know it’s first in attempt. There’s no question about that. They they will consistently put up shots. So, they’re middle of the pack. They shot 46% from the field, but I also know that they shoot a lot of threes, so that percentage is going to drop. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but do you think like I guess this is where the confusion is is like, yeah, the rebounding battle helps, but I guess if the Celtics are shooting a lot of threes, even though they make them a lot, do you think that’s where the battleground is going to be for the for this matchup? They put a lot of importance on it, and I understand why cuz it it puts pressure on the defense beyond even the threes cuz then you get a rebound back, you’re kicking out for another three. Even if you’re shooting poorly from three, it gives you some extra opportunities. So, they’re going to do it like they do it well. They’re not one of the best offensive rebounding teams you’ll ever see, but they get the key ones. They get the timely ones. And the Knicks, I think, have the personnel, the ability to win that battle. And I’ve seen in stretches in this matchup this year, them give the Celtics some trouble on the boards. Like Porzingis, you know, he’ll start a center in this series. Not the best defensive rebounder. You know, Tatum and Brown, great for their positions, but they’re not bigs. So, there’s some opportunity out there for Towns and Robinson to really dominate the offensive rebounding battle in this matchup. And you know, I think they played 5 minutes together in that last game. They had a 36% offensive rebounding percentage during the year together, which is pretty high. So, I just want to see more of those two out there together. And I think it just it it fixes a lot of problems for them, I think, if Robinson can play well because he he’s probably better at the five against what the Celtics are doing than Towns is. And to me, he gives you that offensive rebounding counter that I think is going to be the biggest way the Knicks can get an advantage in the series is being able to put back a lot of their misses, being able to really dominate the glass in there. And he’s done that in the past against them. Like I can remember a lot of games in the past where he made a big difference by getting six, seven offensive rebounds in a game. And you know, I was just asking this, we had Christian Winfield on. I was like, can he play 30 minutes? And I don’t know if we know that because that would that would be big if he gave you like 25 30 great minutes that changes things a lot here, but is it more like 15 20 minutes off the bench like it’s looked like in a lot of these games? It’s probably not as impactful. So that’s why he’s my X factor. I think Hart’s a good one, but Robinson to me is the guy who can actually change things in this matchup compared to what we saw during the year. you know, to your point, like he’s only played 30 minutes once and it’s when Cat was missing for a regular season game. I don’t expect Tibs to go far from what the starting five is. And just because we haven’t even seen a lot of the two big lineup out there with Cat and Robinson, it’s been so sparingly. Now, when they do play, I don’t get it a lot. I know. I don’t get it either. And I want that. I That’s I feel like it helps because one, it’s not what I think. I’ve seen it, right? We saw what happened down in Minnesota when you put Cat at the four and you had Rudy Goar there and it’s like get Cat away from the like from being uh your rim protector and put Mitch out there and it just changes everything. And so look, I would like to see Mitchell Robinson get those opportunities to be in that starting rotation. I’ve been asking for it. I asked for it during this series. I thought he would be a huge impact and he was even in the sparing minutes that he played against Detroit. Like you we look at that Brunson shot, right? that he just, you know, he puts Assara Thompson on skates, but prior to that, it’s Mitchell Robinson deterring Kade from even gaining a good look at for a layup in transition. And so, I would like to see Mitch do that. To me, it just comes back to the concern of playing a true five out team. And then for me, it’s with Mitch is that offensively, are you going to actually find him for the lobs and actually utilize him? Because instead of just putting putbacks, like he needs to be involved in some way where you have to honor him. And if you’re not getting him wobb, which was very rare in the first matchup, then I just feel like he’s going to go to the wayside. And I get it right because then Towns is more standing in the corner. He’s not in as many screening actions and all that. So it does lower Towns’s offensive ceiling a little bit, you know, going too big there. I’m sure that’s why they don’t do it as much. Maybe Robinson’s health, too, and the amount of minutes he can play. I don’t know why they don’t go to it as much, but I do think it’s just a good different look for them. And obviously they’re going to play that card over the course of a series here. And I wouldn’t be stunned if Robinson ends up starting a game in this series. So we’re not going to get to the end of however many games this series lasts and say, “Oh, they didn’t use Robinson enough.” Like that’s going to happen. You think it’s going to happen? What h Let me ask you this question since I know you I know you cover the Celtics and I know you cover the league as a whole. And what has been your thoughts about the Knicks like during the regular season? Because I like I hear it all the time. Tom Tibido this, Tom Tibido that. What what are your thoughts about Tibs leading this team and what you’ve seen from the Knicks overall? They’ve left a lot to be desired. They really have. Like even that first round series and I’m a massive Pistons guy. I love that team. I think I wasn’t surprised they competed to the level they did in that series. But you up 11 at the start of the fourth to squander it the way they did and then the series extending to the degree it did and really they should have lost the game four with the hardway thing there. So, you know, they were in a position where they maybe could have lost that series or at least went seven as it looked like it should have there a couple different times. So, I thought that was a disappointment coming out of that one and having to extend the way it did. And then specifically the Celtics Knicks match ups during the year and I’m not blame the coach guy, but it was glaring to me just how much of an edge Joe had on Tibido. And the biggest moment by far up three in that fourth game we’ve talked about here. You have the perfect opportunity to follow there. I knew you were going to bring that up. Oh my god. Just a glaring mistake. And that’s one of those ones. You know, there’s always a big coaching mistake where you’re just like, “Wow, that was the moment right there where you just saw that that coach didn’t have it.” And that was it to me. Like how not only not following, but just leaving him on an island. And I know OG had his number for a lot of the year and was very well equipped to guard him in that spot, but he’s just on an island. Tatum gets into that step back. No one else is there to help and he hits a clean look from three to force overtime. And it’s like, wow, that’s that’s just bad coaching right there. And you know, I think there’s been opportunities probably to utilize Bridges better. I don’t think he’s been as involved as you would have liked to have seen coming over from Brooklyn. the lineup adjustments, the double big stuff we’re talking about here. There’s a million things that can rattle off along with the defensive disappointment that they’ve been this year that does point to coaching a little bit. And you know, listen, these guys have to perform, but he puts a lot of pressure on them with the minutes, too. And I know that’s been something that they’ve mentioned at times this year and has become a little bit of a thing is the amount of minutes that they’ve had to log here and how they haven’t developed the bench consistently through the course of this year. So, it’s tough, right? Cuz he built this team into what it is and they were just so incompetent for so many years and he’s made them competent, but then the roster changes so much over the summer and it’s like, is he the right coach for this group? It doesn’t seem like it. And listen, I think he’s handled it well. I think he’s being himself. I don’t think he looks like a coach who’s under a ton of pressure. I think he’s just being him. But that might not be what this team needs. And you know, I’ve heard it from Knicks fans too throughout this year. They just haven’t loved this team. Like they I’ve never heard it from the Knicks fans chirping in my ear saying, “Oh, we got you.” You know, we we’re coming for you. You know, even going into this series, I’m not hearing a lot of Knicks fans saying, “Look out.” And I think a lot of that goes back to the lack of confidence in the coach. Cuz it’s not this roster, right? And it blows my mind because like I said at the top of the show, this was a team built to compete with Boston. And maybe you could have said Towns wasn’t the best fit in that, but I still think, you know, you guys have to look at that trade and say that was a good trade. Even though you gave up some good pieces and, you know, it was it was tough to lose a couple of those guys. It was a good trade because of the year Towns had. And to be in a position where you’re worse off to compete with Boston like that roster, I know it has some holes, but it shouldn’t have been a four nothing loss, two blowouts, you know, three maybe even kind of regular season series between these two teams. They are much closer than that. Like this is this is not like a two versus a seven kind of series, but that’s what it looked like during the year. I mean, and I, you know, I go into the series saying this might be easier than that Orlando series, and that should not be with the talent level. You when you look at the Magic’s talent versus what the Knicks have on their roster, I should not be feeling that way. And I don’t know where else to look but the coach for as as a, you know, someone to blame for that. Yeah. And look, I look, I think you hit it right on the head. And a lot of fans have had their qualms about this team just because of the underperformance. And they look keep in mind they won 51 games, right? And they’re still like they were great. They were great. Like they they’re third. They’re third in the East. They won 51 games. You made it past and 10. But it’s also as you mentioned the utilization on this roster. I agree with like the use of Mau Bridges. I’m like, why is he not an initiator at times? Why is he not getting the opportunity to lead the second unit and just get more into a groove? Why are we leaving him as a guy that’s just a 3 and D player where he showed out in Brooklyn he could be a little bit more than that? Why aren’t we utilizing him like that? And we even saw that when Brunson was out, he’s more than capable of just playing at that level. Even when we see OG, OG’s playing at that type of level, too, where you don’t have Brunson. Now the ball is being shared amongst all the high-end role players, you know, even with Carl Anthony Towns who’s a star on this team. and you’re like, “Okay, this should translate once Brunson comes back and then it doesn’t.” And then when you see a lot of ISO basketball and you just watch all these games, even against the Pistons, right, and you’re starting to watch and you’re breaking it this down and you’re like in the game six where they’re they put they it was a brilliant performance to open up that game. I’m like, “Wow, that’s the team I remember at the beginning of the season where they’re just sharing the rock, finding the cutters, you know, getting all those easy shots that they’re more than capable of. That looks like the number one offense that we saw at that time. And then it goes a complete 180 in that second quarter, not half quarter, right? Where the defense just falls apart. The offense looks stagnant. There’s a little bit too much ISO basketball. I’m like, why aren’t we calling a timeout? Why aren’t we adjusting? Why aren’t we designing plays for somebody to get somebody else open better looks? And to me, it’s like that’s where it goes back to the coach. And that’s where I’m like, this is this series, man, to me is going to be a real make or break for this team in the sense of it’s got to be competitive. Like, it truly has to be competitive. Like, you can’t just go out there and go get dogwalked because I agree with you. This team does have the talent, but the talent is not being like is not being displayed where you’re like, “Uh oh, the we we we made all these trades. We’re competing with we should be competing with Boston.” You know, we’re not talking about like five, eight point loss games. were talking about getting shellacked regularly and that to me giving up 130 on opening night and it was embarrassing at times and then to me it’s like that comes down to how are you being prepared and how are we working to this team strength which is primarily being an offensive team and it doesn’t look like a co since January this team has gone down in offensive production and so you look at the offensive rating it’s not the same as it was the beginning of the season and now you could say in December they had an easier u easier easier schedule, a lot of easier matchups. Talk about playing Orlando with Apollo than Fron. You’re talking about some teams that were really in the dumps. Even the Hornets and even the Hornets gave them uh some difficult times. So, I’m like, this is where I look at the entirety of the roster and why I understand Knicks fans even going into this matchup that they have their concerns and some of them are going to be, you know, bullish and brass still. Like, there’s some even on the post game like we got this. We can compete with the Celtics and, you know, I’m going to stay I’m gonna be one of those gonna be like, “We can compete, I think.” Yeah. Exactly. compete. But it’s like, you know, even even like I’m going to go on this one being a little bit more optimistic based on how they finished against Boston during the regular season and saying, “All right, we got Jaylen Brunson. Some magic can happen potentially in these games. I don’t know.” Right. On his shoulders. Yeah. And I think the Celtics like that. I think they like the idea of him going out there and taking all the shots, doing everything, playing under pressure. They’re going to put him under pressure on defense, too, right? So, they’re going to really make him work and making him exert himself. And I know he’s dealing with something. You know, you saw it in those games, him, you know, clenching his teeth when he goes to the ground and getting back up and he’s still scoring his 30 like I said, but it’s going to be a lot of pressure on him and they have to find ways to alleviate that pressure a little bit, get some other guys involved. That’s the biggest thing. and their offense just looks flat sometimes and it can just be a little too headon, you know, just attacking the paint like you said earlier and not finding some good sets to utilize their bigs or some of these wing players. And, you know, Bridges is a is a great case here. He he can run sets. He can handle the ball. He can create his own shot. He can do a lot of different things. And there were just too many times I thought they really helped the Celtics out in this matchup where he’s just in the corner. They’re not concerned about him in the corner because he shot 31% from three in this matchup. They’re willing to let him take some tough twos if he does end up dribbling in. So, you know, you’re ignoring Hart and you’re almost ignoring Bridges, too. And you’re still have the pack paint packed and guys are just driving right into it for the Knicks. So, you know, just from a Celtics perspective, you’re watching that going, “Wow, these guys just can’t win.” And every single game, that’s how I felt watching, especially after the first game blow. It was like, wow, you know, the Celtics are down right now, but the Knicks aren’t going to close this out. And I don’t have much faith in that Knicks team. And I think everyone across the board here in Boston has said that Knicks team last year was scarier than this one, which is crazy to think about because it was not a more talented team. And I think we’re all anticipating that East Finals matchup before the roster broke down with the injuries. And we were anticipating a tough series. like I probably would have been thinking that one goes six and the Celtics obviously didn’t go six in any series last year. So, not to say that they shouldn’t have done that trade or both trades, you know, I think that’s a debate for a different day here, but it does speak to the fact that they haven’t made the most of this roster because it’s certainly I would say one of the five or six most talented rosters in the league. Absolutely. And salute to Nick Nation. Thank you all for tuning for another uh wow going off off the rail. Losing my train of thought here. We’re just having a good conversation. Welcome back to another game of the week preview. With me on the other side is my guy Bobby Manning. You can go catch him over at the Garden Report. All right, that’s his show over there. And he covers the Celtics and the NBA for Celtics, CLNS, and CLNS Media. So, make sure to check them out. Make sure to hit that thumbs up button for your boys. Make sure to subscribe to the channel if you haven’t already done so. Make sure to support our sponsor, Underdog Fantasy. Use that promo code KFTV to get up to $1,000 in instant bonus cash and a free pick. People, let me tell you about Underdog Fantasy real quick. I love using it. I like to think I know a little bit more about sports than you know what underdog is telling me. So the cool thing is you can go create a ticket between two to eight players. You can mix and match amongst all sports and all you got to do is just choose higher or lower on any statistical category. So look we’re going to have you know the Celtics and the Knicks here. Magic Brunson’s going to get let’s say 26 and a half you know as can he score higher or lower than those points. I probably go higher just based on what we saw him do against the Detroit Pistons. I mean he had a 40point closeout people. So, of course, I’m going to go choose higher in that. And that’s all you got to do is just choose higher and lower for all stats. And now, the cool thing is is that you can either go all in and get a big return, or you can go the insured route and say, “Hey, I believe two of or was it like three out of six are going to go right, four out of six are going to go right, and you’ll still get some money in return.” So, that’s one way that you can use underdog fantasy. And then the other side, put on your GM cap, go do some daily fantasy drafts, go compete with your friends, a bunch of randos, and see if you got what it takes to go win and get some cash over there. So, make sure to support our sponsor, Underdog Fantasy. Use that promo code KFTV to get up to $1,000 in instant bonus cash and a free pick. All right, Bobby just had to, you know, had to do a little, you know, got to promote the sponsor over here. But let’s let’s get close to wrapping this thing up, man. You talk about guys I got to help in this series. You know, you talk about Bridges being in the corner, even OG being in the corner. There’s one guy I’m looking at, man, in this series who’s got to help Brunson. No question about it. And that is one Carl Anthony Towns. And to me, I think the big key matchup here is Carl Anthony Towns going against Christos Porzingis. So for Cat, we know what the whole point of going to get Carl Anthony Towns because Nicks saw what the Celtics could do with a stretch five and they’re like, we got to do the same thing. So you go out there, go get Carl Anthony Towns, one of the highest paid bigs in the league, and you know, last two games against Detroit, can’t be scoring under 15 points, my man. You got to go out there and go help Brunson. I know we can all debate saying, “Hey, Brunson was really, you know, handling the rock a little too much, putting up a little too many shots, didn’t really look for Cat.” Cat’s also got to go demand the ball, too. Coach is also got to design some plays for him as well. But in this matchup, that’s the whole point why you got Carl Anthony Towns. He is such an efficient and effective scorer. He has to go be that bonafide second option. Okay, Brunson could go create for himself. Towns needs to be set up a little bit more, but that’s who I’m expecting to step up in this matchup because look, we already know what the two Jays are going to do for the Celtics. We know that KP is just going to let it fly from downtown and he can knock them down at a high rate. And if he’s doing that, it’s going to get out of hand. It’s certainly going to get out of hand. And that’s, like I said, why you brought Carl Anthony Towns in here. Not only because he can score around the rim effectively, but because he is also one of the best shooting bigs from three. And so in this matchup to match what KP is doing, I’m looking at Carl Anthony Towns to go be that true second option in this matchup. Bobby, what do you think about that key matchup? I think that’s the whole ball game. And you know, when you think of Porzingis, he shot 13 threes in that last game, hits eight of them, and you love the looks he got long behind the line there. I think if you can recreate those if you’re the Knicks, that’s golden. And you know, I’m sure there’ll be some people who hate threes who are like 133. But I think in this matchup with what you need, that would be the greatest thing in the world for the Knicks if they could create that many threes for Towns here and figure out ways to uh get their three-point number up overall. And I think he’s the best shooter on the roster, right? Yeah, I would say he’s Yeah, I mean, look, he knocks him down. He knocks down threes like their free throws. He Yeah, they’re effortless. So yeah, there’s some similarities there between Porzingises and Towns impact. So the fact that you’re going to have Porzingis shooting 13 threes and Towns two on many nights here in in this m that just can’t happen. Celtics are switching, you know, they’re they’re doing some stuff to prevent that, but there has to be more opportunities even if it’s not 13 there. So yeah, getting him involved and getting him involved in the right place is going to be so crucial for New York. Absolutely, man. And so Towns has just got to be that guy. KP, we know what KP, as I said, is going to do. And then, I mean, we could talk about Bridges and OG. I mean, I’m like, everybody on this roster, right? I mean, you mentioned it as, you know, it’s a little underwhelming in how these guys are utilized, but I it’s got to be a full-on effort, man, from the starting five. They got to do what they did against the Pistons, I believe, in game three or four. It was one of them where you know Brunson and Towns both had 30 a piece and then Macau and OG both had 20 and they barely came out of that one I think they won by two points and so if that’s what you got to do just to win by two points like the starters lost their minutes in that first round. Yeah. Yeah. That’s and it’s tough man and I know like it’s tough. That’s what’s so tough about this team, man. It’s that even though they lost those minutes in that first round and they still won a game where by two points with that starting five putting up as many points, everyone’s going to have to take it up another notch, man. Especially if the bench is not going to help. And look, I’m looking at Duce McBride in this matchup, too. You know, he’s not my X-factor just because he’s been struggling a lot, but he can certainly swing a series because I know Pritchard is going to be that guy who’s also putting up shots. And while McBride defensively is always fine, the the shooting has just been woeful in the first round. And I feel like the in and out of the lineup, the injuries he dealt with this regular season, you know, he he’s got to be strong in this one, too. Because if we don’t have another guy off the bench that that could just relieve somebody, then it’s really going to be a difficult match up for the Knicks against the Celtics. Yeah, I thought he got some good looks, too, in this matchup. And the Celtics just made it tough. Like that’s the the whole story. There is every shot that Knicks got was difficult. And again, they’re capable of hitting those, but over a course of a long series, if the Celtics are getting easier looks, if the Knicks are getting tougher looks, you know how that’s going to go. So, yeah, there is a level of offensive ingenuity that I think the Celtics achieved in this matchup that you just didn’t see from that Knicks side. And it is about involving everybody. It is about having multiple creators, which I think is probably the biggest advantage in this series for Boston is Holiday can run a set. White can run a set. Those guys can all attack a Brunson if they have them lined up. And you know, they can all attack with Towns if they have them lined up, too. And that was probably the biggest killer on the other end is that there’s multiple targets the Celtics can go at uh with the next defense. And that to me, to go back to the stuff I said earlier in the show, is where Robinson comes into play because I think he just steals some of that up. I think he gives them more possibilities on that end and it’ll just make it a little more difficult. Like before we talk about the Knicks winning this series or going six or seven or any of that stuff, they just got to get to a point where they can compete in these games. Like it it give me a break. Like that’s where they should be in all these games. There should not be any blowouts in this series. This should not be an uncompetitive series just when you’re looking at what they have here. And if it is, that’s a big problem. Um, I think it’s going to be in spots. I think it’s going to be, again, I’ve said a dominant Celtics win in this series, just based off what I’ve watched so far. I haven’t seen anything to make me think it’s going to go in a different direction here yet. But it’s possible. You know, things can change in the playoffs. Things can change over the course of this series. But, and I was saying it on my show, too. Like, I’m not just sitting here waving the Celtics pom pom saying Celtics in four. That’s just what it looks like to me. I said Celtics in six last series because that’s what it looked like to me then. I thought the Magic were going to be really difficult and they ended up being that even though it didn’t go six. So, you know, that’s kind of I hope people see that I’m fair with that. Like, this is just what I’m seeing right now. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. And I certainly think there’s a path to me being wrong there. But that is my best guess in this series is that the Celtics with what they’re able to do on both ends of the floor are going to be able to dominate this thing. And now I do think the games will be closer than what we watched in the regular season. I think the Knicks have enough to do that, but can they close out a game? It will put a It will be a lot on Bronson. It will be a lot on figuring out Towns, how to free him up and maybe getting a third contributor that we’re not thinking about right now. But, uh, the Celtics have a lot of options and a lot of stuff to account for. I remember I asked Josh Hart earlier in the year, what make like why can’t you beat this team? What makes it so tough? And he was just like, look at all the guys you have to account for. Hower, Pritchard, Cornett, Holiday, White, and that’s before you even get to the stars. So, there’s a lot there’s a lot they have to account for. There’s a lot of minutes they’re playing. There’s a lot of load that the you know, stars are shouldering on this team. And you just wonder if it catches up to them a little bit, especially after a long Detroit series. Yeah. And yo, let’s just let’s let’s get into right now. Let’s close this thing out. Let’s talk about our predictions for how long the series is going to go. Um, what is your actual prediction? Is it four or is it five? It’s four. It’s five. Wow. Yikes. Yeah. I I just that last game like the Knicks had a lead throughout. Things were going their way. The Celtics really didn’t need it and they still won it. And that to me was like, wow. That’s where this thing’s going. And I can’t believe it cuz, you know, I actually want to go back and watch our show from the beginning of the year to see what we thought this was going to look like then cuz it wasn’t this, you know, for either of us. I don’t think either of us that we thought there were going to be some competition. I’m sure we thought there was going to be some real battles between these two. I think I thought the Knicks would probably be the biggest threat to the Celtics in the East this year, but it hasn’t been that. You know, Cleveland looks like that. Um there Indiana looks like that again. You know, they give them some trouble and you know, Orlando just gave them a really good shot. So, can the Knicks do that? You know, can they really push this team? I think they’re capable of it, but I have to see it. I can’t believe it until I see it. I think. All right, this is Here we go. So, I think the Knicks after going against If the Knicks get swept, it’s not going to be a pretty sight. If the Knicks get swept, all right, let me let me answer that before I give you my prediction. If the Knicks get swept, there is some massive overhaul. I think the coach is gone. Uh, I think one of the trades that you made is going to be changed, whether that be I think it might have to be Bridges if that were the case. I don’t see Towns being traded like just I and I know for him just based on that contract I don’t know anybody that would want to take that contract on based on like the position that he plays. I don’t see him getting moved but I would see Bridges getting moved. OG could potentially get moved although I don’t think they should move OG. I’m just thinking about what do you get in return right as a Knicks. So maybe uh Barrett quickly. Uh oh my god. Here we go. I much love Look, man. when that trade happened, I I did not know OG actually had that offensive game. I would say that he’s been good. He’s been good. He’s been good. And so, like, look, I if that it will be dark if the Knicks get swept because you did this whole team, you created this whole team to compete with the team you’re now going against. But I’ll say this, I think after playing Detroit, they have gotten a little bit tougher. I think they’re they realize like I think with this little bit of rest they do realize that they can’t go out there and be as loosey goosey as they were playing the Pistons and that’s the perfect way to describe it. They just kept keeping the Pistons in it and I think they’ve learned from that. As you mentioned, Hart has talked about being like accounting for all these guys and I think we’re going to get a little bit more of a competitive series than we’ve gotten throughout the regular season. And that’s kind of why I think that I think the Knicks are actually going to step this thing up and take it seven. I actually do believe. Yeah, I think they’re going to step it up and take it seven. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. But I do think that the Knicks are going to take this. I think they’re going to be some games where we’ll see. We’re going to get some shots. So, they lose in seven. I don’t know what’s going to happen in game seven, man. But, you know, I’m going to have to I’m going to have to go in my heart, man. I’m going to have to go with my Knicks heart. So, I’m going to have to go go Knicks in seven in this one. Last time Celtics were in a game seven, they did lose to Miami two years ago. I’m gonna have to go Knicks and seven, man. I’m gonna go I’m gonna go with my heart in this one. Got to go for the team that I root. Hey, again, we said coming into this year, this team was built to compete with Boston. So, maybe that’ll actually pan out now that it’s playoff time. But, uh, something’s going to have to change. I think they could catch some breaks here. Again, let’s see what Holiday’s looking like in this series. Let’s see how Brown progresses. Yeah. And, you know, I think they have to go and steal game one. like they’re coming out of that last series with some momentum. Brunson’s probably hot. Uh, you know, there’s there’s a lot of stuff I think if you’re catching a Boston team off guard that does look at this as a matchup that they dominate throughout the course of the year, you have to catch them in that game one and really make a statement immediately or I think you don’t have a chance to win this series. So, it’s a big one on Monday and Celtics have to defend that home court. Knicks have to go in there and steal that game. really I think pour everything into that uh just to be able to get ahead in this series cuz you know no one’s even pushed the Celtics to six over these last two years. So G getting a game one puts you on the path to doing that and uh I think really gives you a much better chance of extending this series rather than you know going down 02 and saying oh we’re just going to win at MSG. Like I don’t think that’s going to be the path. Uh that’s that if you go down 02 in this series, it’s going to be a steep steep hill to climb. Steep mountain to climb. Honestly, it’s not even a hill. It’s just going to be a steep mountain. But hey, look, I think like I said, I think with these two teams and how they just competed, man, like between Detroit and the Knicks, that is I feel like the Knicks are coming out this one being like, “All right, we should take it a little bit more seriously. We’re really on their P’s and Q’s. We got to be it for this.” Because they already know what the Celtics are about. They can’t do what you did against Boston because if you do what you did against Boston then you’re talking about what’s about to happen then what you said is going to happen which is a four game sweep because you can’t make any mistake and get to that team. We didn’t mention Tatum somehow much. Maybe we did here. But man look I didn’t talk about I didn’t really talk about Brunson that much either. I mean look in the weeds. Those two guys are hot right now. And you know what? Sometimes it does just come down to the stars right? Who’s playing better? Who’s able to outwill the other? Because you know, Tatum wasn’t great last postseason, right? This postseason after that injury, he’s been out of this world. Brunson, you know, maybe last year you say that guy has the edge in a series like that, the way Tatum was playing, but right now I think that’s an uphill battle to climb. And, you know, he’s capable of it. You just saw the 40, you just saw the crunch time performance in particular, and I think that’s where the Knicks could maybe gain an edge in this in this series, too, is putting themselves in those positions to have him hit those shots. Um, but it will be a lot on Brunson here because you do have a guy on the other side doing what he’s doing as well. Yeah, it’s going to be a tough one, man. Bobby, I appreciate you coming through as always, man, and previewing this game. Please let the listeners please let the listeners know where they can find you if you got any work up and coming. We should be on the lookout for Yeah, we got a postgame show, too, of course, the Garden Report. We’re live after every game. So, I want to see some Knicks fans in there. I want to see some back and forth. I want to see some banter in there. I’m interested to see who’s in the gardens in both games. I want to see who’s in each other’s chats during the series cuz I know there’s a lot of great Knicks content over on this side. But we got the Celtics covered over on ours. So, come join us. We’ll be happy to have you. Check in, see what you’re thinking throughout these games. And uh a lot of off day content, too, over there. Try and do a show every day during these series. So, uh we’ll always be live on CNS Media’s YouTube channel as well as Celtics Allac YouTube channel. Uh cnsdmedia.com is where you can find my writing as well as occasionally over at uh Boston Sports Journal and Celtics blog. So yeah, we’re busy this time of year to say the least. And we’ll be down in New York, too. If if you’re down there at the Garden, keep an eye out for us. All right, man. You heard him, man. So, make sure to go give Bobby a follow. He does great work. Make sure to go give him a follow. And hey, go look, we get Celtics fans. Look, even after the Pistons game, we had Celtics fans in our chat just saying, “We’re ready. We’re ready. where I saw Clover is just hopping in. I was like, “Wow, you guys are not even after one not one second, you’re all you all your fan base is in there.” So, I know they’re raring for this one, man. It’s a good It’s going to be a good one. Boston New York, you know, you always know it’s a good matchup when it’s Boston, New York. Bobby, appreciate you coming through as always. And to all of Nick Knicks Nation, even Celtics Nation out there that’s tapping in, make sure that thumbs up button for your boys, make sure to subscribe to the channel if you haven’t already done so. Make sure to support our sponsor underdog fancy and use that promo code KFTV to get up to $1,000 in instant bonus cash and a free pick. And to everybody, don’t forget if you’re in New York, go to the Aworth. All right, 5:30 sharp. Get through. We got DJ Eric L Beats on the ones and twos as always. Well, you’re going to have drinks. There’s going to be live game action. You’re going to hear all the sounds from the game and then once it’s a commercial break, the music the music will be playing. So, make sure to go check in. Go be with the Orange and Blue Nation over there. You know how KF3 does, man, when it comes to watch parties. So, make sure to go tap in over there. Make sure to go follow our newsletter as well to get all the updates for, you know, watch parties. You get great articles over there for all the video, for all the content that’s dropping, also for all the merch, as well as all of our sponsors. So, make sure to go sign up over there as well and just to stay tapped in with any new moves that we’re making. And look, you already know what’s going to be happening. We’re going have playbyplay on Monday and postgame. So, make sure to stay locked in. All right, everybody. Appreciate your time. We out.

New York Knicks vs Boston Celtics Eastern Conference Semi-Finals Game 1 Preview w/ Bobby Manning

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