‘I’m NERVOUS, the Knicks have got to win TONIGHT’ 🗣️👀 Stephen A. talks BOS-NYK Game 6 | First Take

‘I’m NERVOUS, the Knicks have got to win TONIGHT’ 🗣️👀 Stephen A. talks BOS-NYK Game 6 | First Take

You see this background right here? You see this, America? Do you see this? The New York Knicks, do you see this? This is what it’s about tonight. The Mecca Madison Square Garden. It’s what it’s all about, baby. We waited for this moment for 26 years. It’s been since 1999 that the New York had an opportunity to close out a series at the Garden. That’s what we’re talking about here right now. Because you know what? You know, we can’t have a game seven, right? There cannot be a game seven. So, you know what that means? There is no tomorrow. There is no tomorrow. There is no tomorrow. It’s now. Starts with first take, baby. Wait till you see who I got in the house. We here. We here. Boston without their star really showing up. Don’t count us out just yet. And Boston has won to play another day facing elimination. What’s your concern level for your New York Knicks? On a scale of 1 to 10, you ask, is it about eight and eight? This is what the garden was built for. People are tense. Like this is a 10. New York Knicks got to win game six. Nixon six sounds better than Nixon 7. Everything goes sideways on them on Wednesday night. Now I’m moving forward to Friday. Tonight’s all about the Knicks. Do not want to go to Boston. That little leprechaun is real. Game six, Friday night. Night quick. This is it. This is it right here. Woo! It is a game six Friday in New York City. Hello everyone. Shay Cornet in from Molly today. Of course, Stephen A is here. Feeling a little nervous, but he’s going to be all right. Chana Gumay with us and of course Brian Winhorse as well. We’ll have a special guest stopping by later of the Knicks variety in just a little bit. But as we already know, we got a game six at the Garden tonight after the Celtics made 22 threes and took game five in Boston, of course, without Jason Tatum. But the series shifts back to MSG where the nerves will be strong for Mr. Smith. And so I start with you, Stephen A, as he takes a breath from that open. What is going to happen tonight? New York Knicks are going to win. They’re going to close this series out. That’s what they’re going to do. Why do I say that? Because I’m nervous as hell if the otherwise happens. Okay, I don’t appreciate Brian Wintos, who I love dearly, laughing at me. He’s been laughing at me all week. Okay, that’s what he’s been doing. Okay, I don’t appreciate that smile on your face cuz I know you’re laughing at me. I understand y’all are having a good time. But damn it, this is serious. This is serious. Okay, 1973. That’s the last time we won a championship. Okay, did you know that? Last time we’ve been in the NBA finals, 1999. Did you know that? We have suffered. Which is why people like Big Perk himself gets on my last damn nerves cuz he want to act like he got the New York flavor and he all vibing with the New York. He was one of those people torturing the New York Knicks years ago. He was one of those people torturing and serving as an impediment and a roadblock to the success that the New York Knicks had hope to enjoy. He was guilty of that. And now he want to act like he could stroll up in the garden like he the man. I’m tired of it. I’m tired of it. But we are nervous. And we have to concede that. Okay. Jason Tatum was out. I haven’t seen the B the Boston Celtics space like that. Yeah. Have spacing on the floor like that in any time that he was on. I haven’t seen them pass the ball like that. I haven’t seen them trust one another like that. I’m like I’m pretty damn nervous. Derek White with seven threes. I mean, Kevin Pritchard with five. Cornet, this brother comes off the bench. Ain’t never start a playoff game. All right, even though he didn’t start last time, but he comes off the bench. I didn’t know the second coming of Bill Walton was in Boston. Seven blocks total, five blocks in the third quarter. I mean, this is stuff to be nervous about. And then OG shooting 1 to2. Male Bridges losing his mid-range. Jaylen Brunson having a so cat with his 21 size feet looking like this cinder blocks for crying out loud. Can’t get up the damn floor. I need you to do something. Okay. Fat Joe, I saw him with Jada on social media. What’s up? I haven’t heard from you because he nervous. Spike Lee nervous. Chris Rock nervous. Devin, I’m nervous because we understand. These are the reigning defending NBA champions that we are talking about. They got to win the night. The New York Knicks don’t win tonight. Here’s what I’m trying to say. I believe if the New York Knicks had won Wednesday night, even if they win tonight, they got a chance to win it all. They go to they beat Indiana, go to the finals, they got a chance. My issue is if they lose tonight and they get forced into a game seven, yeah, you might lose to Boston, but even if you beat them, I give them no chance, virtually no chance to beat Indiana if they had to go seven to take out Boston because I think with them not using their not having a bench, not using their I still don’t understand why Precious Shu ain’t playing, but I don’t understand why you using your bench. Those five guys, you’re running, six guys, you’re running them into the ground. And I don’t believe you’re going to beat Indiana if you have to play an extra game. That’s my issue. That’s where I stand. They got to get it done tonight. They got to get it done tonight. Eyes with me right here. They got to get it done. Okay. I do yoga. Inhale. Good thoughts. Exhale. Anxiety. Thank you. Woo. Woo. You make a lot of friends. I did. I did Bickram yoga. Oh, you did. I do. I do as well. I haven’t. I don’t do it, but I’ve done it. You know who you need meditating? Carony Towns. You need him meditating. You need him in the zone. Look, I have the Nixon six. It sounds, like I said before, better than Nixon 7, right? like this is the way it feels like the basketball gods of Spalding and Wilson are designing. Now, this is not not to disparage the Boston Celtics. They are absolutely capable of running it back and doing what they did before. But I do think that the strategy has shifted. We talk about Jaylen Brown having a careerhigh 12 assists in the last game. That was not something that I think most people would have put on their bingo card. They thought that he was going to go Superman just like his, you know, former Superman and Jason Tatum. They thought he was going to go and try to drop 40 to get them to win. Instead, they flipped the script and that was like you said, Stephen A. I was watching that game. It was beautiful basketball. Very limited amount of dribbles. If you think about it, they were not thinking when they were out there. Derek White, the word, you know, is unconscious. When he just crossed half court, just saw the bottom of the net. Beautiful release. Like they felt like they found a flow because when you play with someone that is a gravitational force like Jason Tatum, you can sometimes settle for iso ball. You can watch him work. You can feel like he has to do the most. You’re not moving. Now, they got back to what I think the Boston Celtics were designed to be, that beautiful form of basketball when you’re knocking down their threes. But given all of that, I still feel like the Knicks are expected and they feel like they have the requisite amount of talent. They have not played a great game yet. And most importantly, like they have to put the pieces together. I think CAD is the biggest piece, but they need to make sure that you hear OGNobi being effective, male Bridges winning the non Jaylen Brunson minutes, Brunson keeping the game close so that he can take over the clutch player of the year. They have the pieces to win this game. And it feels like this is the must win. the anxiety level of this entire city contributing. I’m a victim of it. You are you you got to be a leader here and tell everybody to calm down. Trust your team. This is the most mentally tough team in the playoffs. Tell everybody to calm down and trust your team. Do you trust your team? How are you calling them the most trusted team? The most mentally tough team Indiana. How many times see that’s a classic example. She’s right. That’s a classic example of somebody whose heart hasn’t been broken. Happily married man, good man. You understand? Say you’re looking like a politician every day. Everybody loves Wendy. Everybody loves Wendy. Wendy’s a household name. You understand? I mean, you’re not a polarizing figure. You don’t have to. You haven’t suffered. You haven’t suffer. They haven’t been favored in one game in this whole series. And yet here they are. Kill tonight. Trust your team. Trust your team. They were at a distance. That’s your advice. That’s my advice. What you saw was honestly you need to calm everybody out there in these streets down yesterday. People two days before the game were freaking out in these streets largely because they’re watching this guy freak out. You got to calm them down. Lead by example, Stephen. You got to calm them down. You’re right. Trust your team. You want your team to play calm, collected like they’ve been there before. Jaylen Brunson’s cool. He’s all right. I’m not concerned about Jaylen Brunson. Did I say I was concerned about Jaylen Brunson? I did not bring up Jaylen Brunson at all. I said Carl Anthony Towns. I said Muel Bridges with the mid-range. I said OG. What’s up with the one for 12? What’s up, bro? Not ideal. What’s up with that? What’s up with that? Mitchell Robson. I mean, Luke, could you do Luke Cornette? I I can’t believe I’m saying this. I’d rather had Luke Cornette. I ain’t seen Mitchell Robinson do that. Even though I was very proud of him hitting his first four four free throws. I’m just telling you y’all see the problem that I have with people like you and to a much more significant degree people like Kendrick Perkins who haven’t suffered. You don’t understand the pain and the agony that orange and blue has rained down upon us spanning 50 years. But that doesn’t have anything to do with tonight. Excuse me. It has everything to do. See, that’s where you’re wrong. It has everything to do because if the New York Knicks were to lose tonight, it falls right in line. falls right in line with a host of disappointing moments that the New York Knick fan base has experienced spanning a half century. Do you understand that the last time we won Richard Nixon was leaving office? Do you understand what we have endured, what we have gone through? Do you want me to bring up the Charles Smith moment? Do you want me to bring up the John Stark moment? What do you want me to do? I love these guys, but damn it, it hurts. I don’t want you to bring up any of those moments. I want you to focus on this team which has been extremely mentally tough. They they have no business really being in this spot because they’re just so much mentally tougher than everybody else. They’ve been mentally tougher in this series. That’s why they got here. Here’s what you said. You see, if the New York Knicks had lost in Boston, but then they won, you know, tied up the series and then go back to Boston and they down 32 or whatever, we feel good because then we’re looking at, yo, okay, they might be able to do this. The problem was they went up 3-1. And when they went up 3-1 and you’re 48 minutes away from advancing to the conference finals and all you got to do is go ball, it’s not that you lost. Please don’t get me wrong. It’s not that they lost the game, it’s how they lost. You got your ass kicked in the second half. You had guys like Derek White and Luke Cornet, not Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum together, but Jayen Brown and Derek White together or Derek White and Luke Cornette together. And you see preaching my six man of the year, the six man of the year coming off the bench raining threes like the Knicks were supposed to be doing. Got blown out. That’s the problem. He’s damaged. That’s the problem. You got You got to win the night. A little broken. But how about this? I I can fix it. Did you know teams that are up 3-1 win 96% of the time? I’m fully aware of that. You know this historically. I would just say I thought you I know you were at an eight. You should probably be like at a five and then maybe games eight’s gone. Yeah, that was probably gone. I don’t know what he’s at, but eight is gone. You are way past eight. You’re like 80. Have you seen Tom Divido not use his bench? Have you seen call Have you seen call in? Sorry. That’s why he’s never coached in finals. Okay. Well, all right. As a head coach. As a head coach. Have you seen Call Anthony Towns in the post? Have you seen Jaylen Brunson handle his business repeatedly when it matters? I’ve seen Jaylen Brunson and I have no doubt. But let me ask you this question. If Jaylen Brunson drops 40 tonight, couldn’t the Knicks still lose? Of course. Of course they could. Look, at the end of the day, is are the Celtics going to make 23 threes tonight? Because if they’re going to make 23 threes, the Knicks are probably going to lose. So, I would just say, and guess what, Stephen A? There’s another game. The New York Knicks are not losing tonight. Okay, look, the urgency of the moment is now. It’s set up for them. They were at a disadvantage in game five. I know that that doesn’t sound right. They had played the Celtics eight times this year with Jason Tatum. They did not know exactly what they were going to see. They went into that game thinking Jaylen Brunson was going to try to score 45. Instead, he facilitated. They were bringing help over here. He facilitated. The Celtics were moving bodies like they don’t normally do. They were not ready. They will now be ready for tonight. Now, the advantage swings back. They now know how they’re going to play. They’re playing at home. Trust your team. There’s five guys on the court at the same time. Not eight, not nine, not 10. Five guys on the court at the same time for one respective team. If Jaylen Brown can get to the hole like we know he can, if he can exercise his mid-range game like we know he can, and he is as committed to getting others involved the way that he did last game, which there’s no reason to believe he won’t since it worked so effectively in the last game. These are things the New York Knicks have to concern themselves with. I’m saying to you 31 to9 getting, you know, you know, in terms of points off turnovers, okay, fast break points, they lost in that category as well. You got to get back on defense. You got to figure out a way to man up and understand that no matter who’s on the damn floor, you got to guard everybody. You can’t just be leaving. You can’t be leaving people open. We don’t No, think about it this way. Normally, this is the first season we’ve ever had complaints about a Tom Thibido defense. Do y’all realize that? Yeah, that’s a good point. That’s never happened. That’s never happened. So again, do I believe the Knicks are going to win the night? Yes. But I’m attaching urgency. The way the Celtics, you don’t want to go back to not the way they had moved for the previous also make the trade to get Carl Anthony Towns. And I think you can denigrate like the defense and maybe Cat at the start of the year with his rebounding, but now if you look, you know, one thing we criticized Cat for was drop coverage. He’s actually been pretty decent in these screens defensively. Now you need to get him back going offensively. He’s holding his opponents to like 23% shooting to me. Yeah, exactly. He’s only made two threes for 13. Yeah, and that’s why I say he’s the X factor here. You know, Brunson, something to give you some good news after losses in this postseason, averaging 36 points per game. You know, he’s probably going to show up, right? You know, Hart is going to dive on the floor for loose balls. You know, Bridges is going to try to make a play, especially when like the bench, you know, like the second unit is out there. It’s Cat. You know, I sit and I work with Kendrick Perkins each and every day. He voted Cat allNBA. you need him to play as such in order to win in this circumstance. He’s fully capable of of doing so. Especially when you think about going up against a less than 100% Chris Pzingis, a Luke Cornet who’s getting more minutes like Al Horford who’s older. He is the X factor. Yeah, he’s the one that you got to I’m I’m going to I’m going to give you breaking news. I am going to listen to my man Swag Goo who’s been texting me all show thus far. First 14 minutes. I am going to listen to my man Charlie Mack in LA. I am going to listen to my man Wendy himself. I am going to embrace a more positive attitude. The city needs it. The city The city needs me. The city needs Oh gosh. Now look what we You understand? I’m saying the city needs me. Not the city needs this. The city needs me right now. This is different. And I said, “So here’s how it go. Here’s how it’s going to go. We going to roll up in the garden of Nisha. We going to look at Jaylen Brown. We going to look at Derek White. No more. You ain’t get 73 tonight. D. You ain’t get D white. You ain’t get seven tonight. Okay. We’re not getting You’re not getting 7. Oh, Cornet ain’t going to be no seven blocks tonight, but you you might get dunked on. We going We going to handle a lot of business. Kevin Bridget, we like you. We like you. We like you. Like, good kid. Little engine that could. You understand? Six man of the year. Got nothing but love for you. You going down tonight. The New York Knicks roll up in the garden. You understand? They roll up in the garden. New York, you know what it is. We together will propel this next team to the conference finals. We will do it together. That’s what we will do. That’s what we will do. But we got here. Here we go. Let’s go. Tom Brady, you hear me? Let’s go. Let me tell you something. He is going to be all day. Probably the last 10 minutes. No. If this is all you think we’re talking about, the Knicks, you haven’t watched the show.

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Chiney Ogwumike and Brian Windhorst preview Game 6 between the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2025 NBA Playoffs.

0:00 Stephen A. hypes up the Knicks for Game 6
5:15 Chiney says Knicks will adjust to Celtics’ offensive game plan
6:45 Windy says Stephen A. needs to chill
9:30 Knicks have been mentally tough
12:47 Knicks struggles on defense
14:21 Stephen A. agrees to calm down

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