Stephen A. & Perk give their early thoughts on Pacers vs. Knicks in the ECF | SportsCenter

Stephen A. & Perk give their early thoughts on Pacers vs. Knicks in the ECF | SportsCenter

Fellas, the Celtics proud champion, battle tested veterans. You would expect more from that team in a potential elimination game. Stephen A, start with you. What did you see out of the Celtics tonight? I saw a team that quit. I saw a team that got beat down um in the first half. Uh they knew that it was a deficit that they were not going to recover from. And in the second half, it was just uh uh you know, it was just all about running out the clock. Jaylen Brown uh tried to get others involved, knew no one else had anything to give, and as a result, he was limited in what he gave. You can debate whether or not that’s an excuse, but that’s what it came down to. Derek White had 34 points on seven three-pointers in game five. He scored eight points tonight. Drew Holiday is a two-time champion, okay, in Milwaukee and Boston. He had four points tonight. Pton Pritchard, the sixth man of the year, gave you absolutely nothing. And Luke Cornett might as well have done so as well because he only had five rebounds after having seven blocks. Okay, so it’s one of those situations where the New York Knicks, the Garden fans, and everything else just overwhelmed them and they had nothing to fend off the momentum that the Knicks and their fans brought in Madison Square Garden tonight. Perk, you want to jump in there? Absolutely I do. This was all about the New York Knicks and this was the most complete win of their postseason far as them playing both ends of the floor. All season long, all postseason long, everybody kept wondering and saying this is not a Tom Tippido le team. Tonight it was and it started with their defensive impact. I thought they got I thought they got into the Celtics. They contested every shot. They closed out with a purpose. They rebounded at a high level. They got every 5050 ball. Deuce McBride with a chase down block. OG had a Nobi had two blocks. I believe it was in the first quarter. Mitchell Robinson call Anthony Towns defensively was spectacular. And what I saw was I saw a Tom Tibido challenge his team after they got smoked in game five. And that team responded in great fashion. We haven’t seen this version of the Knicks all postseason long. Not a Knicks that competed the way that they did tonight defensively. They did a hell of a job. Offensively, they shared the damn ball and they set the tone by getting a big fella Carl Anthony Towns involved early because the one thing we know is egos with certain players that you have to feed their ego to get them going. And I thought the Knicks made it uh uh made it an emphasis that we’re gonna go out here, we’re gonna get Cat involved early in the offense because he’s an emotional guy and we’re going to let his energy feed off the crowd in Madison Square Garden. We did not see anything like this all series from the Knicks. Even in their three previous wins in this series, they were down by double digits in all three of those games. Tonight, they were just in incredible from start to finish. They blow out the champs and now the Knicks move on to play the Pacers. Stephen A, we were talking about this a little bit earlier. Game one Wednesday, Knicks with home court in this series. How do these two teams match up? I think it’s got seven games written all over it. The Indiana Pacers aren’t considered elite defensively, at least by some, but they’re certainly big- time offensively. They can put points up in bunches and they can get stops when they need to stop. They’re a well-balanced team. You don’t look at anybody on their squad and say superstar, but they are to be big- time respected. Hallebertton can ball. I don’t know anybody that’s calling him overrated. He is not overrated. That brother can play. Miles Turner can play. Nem hard and knee Smith can play. Mathan can play. They’re well balanced. They’re exceptionally exceptionally well coached by a champion in Rick Carile. And they have no problem going up against the New York Knicks. They may have lost two or three meetings against them in the regular season, but they don’t have any problems going against the New York Knicks. So, the New York Knicks are going to have to show up. I think they’re going to have to be more efficient offensively. I think they’re going to have to be more consistent defensively in order to win this series. It’s got seven games written all over it. And I believe this series will come down to a game seven at Madison Square Garden for the right to go to the NBA Finals. Perk, who you got in this series? I got Nick. I got Knicks in seven. Perfect opportunity for the New York Knicks to get their lick back. Hell, the Pacers took Hell, the Knicks took the Paces to seven games last year. And Jaylen Brunson, I believe, had a what? Fractured thumb. You had uh Josh Hart. He had an abdominal strain. You had OG Noble. He was dealing with a hamstring issue. Now those guys are healthy with the addition of a call Anthony Towns and a Muel Bridges. And we’re watching right now. Mitchell Robinson and Deuce McBride has been providing some spectacular minutes off the bench on both ends of the floor. I believe this Knicks team is going to be ready for the Pacers. I’m not underestimating the Pacers. They play agenda-free basketball. They have a hell of a coach and Rick Carlau. They have a guy that’s a a real that’s a real closer, Tyrese Hallebertton, but he’s not a better closer than Big Body Bronson. And I think Big Body Bronson along with Josh Hart leadership is gonna take this Knicks team to the NBA finals. I agree with Stephen A. Smith is going to go seven games. Is going to be a brawl for it all, but I got the Knicks winning this series in seven. Of course, these two teams do have a little bit of postseason history. Reggie Miller, Spike Lee, I miss you, man. Uh should be all sorts of fun. Uh it gets started again on Wednesday. Stephen A and Per here with us. I miss you Sports Center. Try to post what I look like. I pull up my brain with the heat. [Applause]

Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins joins David Lloyd on SportsCenter to give their initial thoughts on the New York Knicks taking on the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

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