Celtics gave the WRONG team hope! 🗣️ Chiney Ogwumike reacts to Knicks’ Game 1 win 👀 | NBA Today

Celtics gave the WRONG team hope! 🗣️ Chiney Ogwumike reacts to Knicks’ Game 1 win 👀 | NBA Today

The Celtics, they had a 20-point lead over the Knicks in game one. That usually means game over for Boston’s opponents. Entering this game, they were 40 and one this season when they led by 20 plus points. But what had happened was Boston stopped hitting. Girl, that’s that’s an understatement. They like went, it’s not cold. They went frozen. Yeah, they were in a cold plunge. They only shot 29% on uncontested threes in game one. And while that was happening, uh, the Knicks were balling out. 5 minutes left in the third. OG Anobi hits a wide open three there. He was cooking. His best game ever in the playoffs. But of course, what you love about this squad is the fact that they all have confidence. OG bending over backwards, making a pass. The ball, this three right here, I was like, whoa, these guys might be able to pull this off. But how do you not try to close or contest right there on Jaylen Brunson? This was the one that shut me up. Boom. New York in front. Watch out now. Less than a minute later, I call it the Brunson Boogie, baby. The Brunson Boogie. And this was the Brunson burner on Al Horford. New York went on a 45 to19 run to take the lead. Boston still struggling to shoot the ball. Brunson chipped in 16 points during that span. Here though is the puzzling play for me here. I’m so mad just watching because these are talented players with advantages. Here you have a post player, the paint wide open instead. Countless times I asked Boston fans, “How do you feel?” They’re like, “We’re stressed, y’all.” Because they keep settling for threes. when you have the advantage over the the Robinsons, the Harts, the Brunsons. Instead, you’re shooting threes on a night that you miss the most ever in NBA history. And having so many shooters around you is what opens up the paint for those driving opportunities. And so to overtime we go, or should I call it male Bridges time because he struggled a bit earlier in this game. Not anymore. Hits that corner three. New York up by six there. Now you see him, now you don’t. Jaylen Brown gets it on the wing, starts to drive, and he’s fouled, but the foul’s called on the floor. Right call, by the way. Absolutely. Before the gather. Let’s take one more look. You can see there’s the foul, and then there’s the shot. Yeah, exactly. Sideline out of bounds for the Celtics here. What do we say about MueL B? Rips the ball away to end the game. The Knicks go on the road and steal game one. That’s some highway robbery right there. One more look at that play from Male Bridges. Here’s Jaylen Brunson on the mindset to get the comeback in this one. Told each other just keep believing and um just keep fighting, sticking together and keep chipping away. Now I wasn’t just going to what is it going to be uh a 20point shot where you can just come back. We just had to keep chipping away possession by possession. This team has fought all year. You know, he’s been a pretty good road team. Uh, we’ve had to endure some things with guys being out and I think over time that helps you. You know, you build up, you know, your mental toughness and understanding how important that is. Check out the cover of the New York Daily News this morning. A little Goodwill hunting. How do you like them apples? Brian, do you believe that last night’s performance by the Knicks is repeatable? No. um more not so much what the Knicks did, but I know I’m in trouble now. I’m in trouble with all my Nick fan friends. Um the look, the Celtics missed 32 uh open, you know, clean look three-pointers, and I just don’t think that’s going to happen again. Um what I do think is repeatable, what the Knicks have shown they’ve been able to do for a while now is win clutch time because they have the best clutch time player in the NBA. So, however they get to clutch time in any game in this series, whether it’s by hook or by crook, by missed free throws, missed three-pointers, whatever happens, that is what I think is repeatable. I think they can win clutch time. They’ve also proven that they can win on the road. They’re 4-0 on the road in this postseason. 3-0 in the last series. They win in Boston in game one. I don’t think they can count on the Celtics having historically bad volume shooting nights. So, um, but obviously this is how the Knicks have to get through. They have to steal games here and there. They’re one for one in that one. Listen, I I’m going to give the Knicks a little bit more credit than Brian Winhorse just did. And this isn’t because the Knicks gave me a hard time last season in the postseason. Knicks fans gave me absolute hell last postseason. However, there are some things that are repeatable for the Knicks. We also can’t act like the Knicks played a perfect game. When you talk about Carl Anthony Towns, he was limited in scoring. Male Bridges was three of 13. They gave up 19 offensive rebounds. So, one, the Knicks can play better, but two, the defensive possession to tie the game in the fourth quarter, it wasn’t because the Celtics settled. In fact, Jason Tatum doesn’t settle on this possession. OG Anobi is guarding the ball. Jason Tatum goes over the string, continues to be in attack mode. Carl Anthony Towns moves his feet, and OG Anovi gets the steal. This is the possession that tied the game. That defensive effort and defensive energy can be repeated to help the Knicks keep this a competitive series. Well, we said yesterday the way that the Knicks can win is the law of averages. And I think we took that to the extreme when we forecasted potentially the Celtics missing shots. So, I’m even more high on the Knicks because now they have the confidence knowing that we stole one on the road. We have not just one. Everyone talks about Brunson being a closer. Uh OGN and Obi 55 out of their 63 points in the second half in overtime became we’re between those two. So, they have two closers. You have potentially a better game from Cat. you’re returning home feeling like all right like game two whether what happens or not like we’re feeling good like we can compete in this series you gave the wrong team most importantly the wrong city like the New York Knicks they went out and got big wings for the Boston Celtics I’m not saying that this is some sort of proof of the New York Knicks being the better team in this series but this is why they go out and get those sorts of wings also we harp so much on Tom Tippido and never getting out of a drop I just want to give a credit some switches that we’ve ever seen here for the New York Knicks and it worked. But Boston, to your point, missed an NBA record 45-pointers in game one. It’s the third quarter that’s drawing a ton of attention here. The Celtics attempted a grand total of one shot inside the three-point line for the entire quarter. They were outscored 30 to 23. Here’s Tatum on their shot selection. Obviously, in hindsight, you know, if we could go back, we probably would drive the ball a little bit more. Um, because we missed a lot of shots tonight. Uh, but, you know, there’s a balance sometimes, you know, it’s a make or miss lead. Um, and then there’s sometimes where, you know, you can get a better shot. Andre, I hear you’re bothered. I hear there’s something about the Celtics that’s bothering you. Well, well, yeah, because when you talk about it, there there’s a difference between the Celtics in a system, Celtics settling. Are you playing within system or are you settling for those threes? And that is the biggest thing for me. And when Jason Tatum talks about being able to get a better shot, there were a couple of plays. I know they had some open threes, but there were a couple of plays where they could have went from a good shot to a great shot. And there’s a big difference in that. It’s not even just a couple of plays. You have the ball. You have the mismatch. You have Brunson in front of you. You got a foot on him. You have heart in front of you. Uh you have mismatches with the post and you’re still shooting those threes. Sometimes you wish you had a teammate cuz if I were their teammates, I’d be like, “Yo, attack. Go inside.” Look, I I absolutely still believe the Boston Celtics are the team to beat. They are the favorite. They’ve been there. They’ve done that. They’re deeper. People don’t talk about Porzingis missing those crucial minutes as well. So, if they’re healthy, which they’re hopefully trending to be, they still should be able to handle business. But you don’t play with your food, especially at this point. Yes, it’s a make or miss league, but you know what? the the system that won you a championship. The league is different. The teams have reloaded. The strategies are more intense. This has been the most fun NBA playoffs we’ve watched, but also the most physical NBA playoffs. Different factors are into the equation now that I think coach Joe Missoula has to address. To be fair to Boston, Chris Porzingis, he did leave this game with an illness and he did not return. That was a big part of all of this. Uh it is I’ve had so much fun in this postseason and clearly Stephen A, I guess, is having a lot of fun uh watching us talk about this as well. He has some notes for us, I suppose. He says, “Uh, wait a minute. I’m watching y’all right now, and I don’t like the absence of enthusiasm, of glee about my Knicks. Is it you that’s convincing us to calm down or is that Brian Winhorse?” All right. I just hyped up the Knicks. Stephen A, listen. Lock in. New York, stand up. New York, stand up. New York. Oh, there you see. All right. Forget there. You know, sometimes having a very bad day. Sometimes, you know, it happens. All right, three key Cavaliers questionable on the injury report for tonight’s crucial game, too. Evan Mobley has a sprained ankle. Darius Garland, a sprained toe. Remember, he missed the last three games because of it. And then DeAndre Hunter, he sprained his thumb, although at one point they said he dislocated it. So, we’re certainly tracking all of that. There’s a lot of uncertainty here, Brian. How worried should the top seated Cavaliers be? They’re already down 01 in this series. significantly. Uh none of the three were at shoot around this morning. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not playing, but it’s not a good sign. Um the Cavs are a deep team, a deep team that has shown they can win a number of different ways. It’s certainly not an insurmountable hill for them to climb to think that they could miss these three guys and win tonight. However, you’re looking at missing two of their three allstars, which would require the guys who do play to play very smart. And I know that there was a lot of focus on things that happened with the ball, specifically uh struggles shooting for Donovan Mitchell and Tai Jerome in game one, but the Cavs really lost game one at the defensive end. Gave up 121 points and 19 three-pointers. So when you watch tonight, look for the Cavs to show way more activity at that end of the court, especially when Tyres Hallebertton passes the ball. He killed them as a distributor the other night. Yeah, he shot the ball well, but it was his kickouts uh when they pay a lot of attention to him and try to block the rim that were an issue. So, if Hallebertton beats him with shoot and the pass, it’s going to be a lot harder to manage the Pacers and their style of play. You brought up that great stat, Malikica, about when he scores 20 points, they are virtually unbeatable. He had 22. So, it’s not just his passing, it’s also, you know, his scoring. But honestly, you guys, the Celtics, they’re not the only culprits. The Cavs are culprits too from falling getting a little tipsy, getting a little drunk on three a little bit. They were nine for what 38 shooting. They settled a bit. They got lost in the sauce. Whereas now you your defense didn’t step up. The Pacers offense is comfortable. And when they’re comfortable, they’re lethal. The word is comfort for me. And it goes back to Tyrese Hallebertton and the Cavs defense. He was way too comfortable. They have to find a way to disrupt him. Well, we’ll see if they can do it, particularly if they’re going to be short-handed.

On NBA Today, Malika Andrews, Andraya Carter, Chiney Ogwumike, and Brian Windhorst react to the New York Knicks shocking the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Then, they preview Game 2 between the Indiana Pacers and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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