ORANGE AND BLUE SKIES 🟧🟦 Stephen A. Smith and John Starks react to Knicks win | SportsCenter

ORANGE AND BLUE SKIES 🟧🟦 Stephen A. Smith and John Starks react to Knicks win | SportsCenter

Now joining us, Stephen A. Smith, and he’s got a special guest with him, New York Knick legend John Starks in the house. Gentlemen, I go to you. What is your reaction from what you saw tonight? I will start off with you, John Starks. Take it away, man. Man, it was amazing. Um, I expect them to come out and win this game, but not in this fashion as we talked about. Uh it was um a defensive-minded team starting starting off the game and offensively they just went on an explosion. And I I said earlier today that you know you have to treat Jaylen Jaylen Brown like Jason Tatum, right? You know what I mean? He’s going to get here but you have to shut everybody else off. And the Knicks did a beautiful job of that and the outcome was what it was. I got to tell you something. Coming into this game, looking at what the Knicks were doing, getting outscored on fast break points, getting outscored on points off turnovers, you knew they weren’t getting back on defense nearly as well as they should have. And I said to myself, that’s got to it’s got to start there defensively. The Celtics had 37 points in the first half. The New York defense just put the clamps on them. You had balance scoring. Only four times this postseason did a team have four guys score 20 plus points. The New York Knicks did it twice. Okay. in this series alone did it once against Detroit and Denver was the only other team. This New York Knicks team came to play tonight. They annihilated and beat down the reigning defending NBA champions. All be it without Jason Tatum. I expected the New York Knicks to lose. Although I was a little scared, John, I ain’t going to front. I a little scared after what I saw Wednesday night. But even that, I still expected the New York Knicks to win. I did not expect a beatdown. That’s what happened to the Boston Celtics tonight. Derek White went from 34 points and seven three-pointers to a total of eight points. He’s a champion. Drew Holiday is a two-time champion. He had four points. Four. And then you look at Cornet, the second coming of Bill Walton in game five. He came crashing down to earth like the reserve that he is normally he normally is. He had five points and five rebounds after having seven blocks in game five. So, I am very pleased. I am very ecstatic on behalf of all New Yorkers everywhere. Oh, what’ you say? What’ you say? Blue skies. There you go. There you go. Blue skies. Blue skies. Oh, I can just feel it in New York right now. Guys, I got to tell you, we’re watching the game and we see everybody courtside. We see Ben Stiller. We see you guys. We see it’s like a who’s who of New York royalty on the sidelines. What’s the atmosphere like there for MSG in that game six? What did it feel like for you? It it it’s crazy. You know what it what it is is that the celebrity that’s comes here and we always talk about this is they come to be a fan and enjoy basketball. It’s not like out on the west coast. It’s here on the east coast. They come and truly enjoy being a fan of basketball and and you could sense it. You know, I have, you know, guys coming down to me slapping hands and stuff. So, they into it and that’s a beautiful thing about New York. And we in the Mecca. Come on now. We in America and that’s how we do it. Well, here’s the deal. Usually, just as just just their disposition, the Larry Johnson’s, the Latrell Spree Wells, the Patrick Euans of the world, even when they smile, it’s basically a grin. They’ve been showing all their pearly whipes tonight. I mean, you should have seen everybody. I mean, they understood what this moment is. It’s been since 1999 that the New York Knicks have closed out a series at Madison Square Garden. That makes this the first time in 26 years. This is a very, very big deal. And I believe John Starks, this is the best shot that the New York Knicks have had at a championship in 30 plus years. The 30 years, I’m sorry. Okay, this is it right here. It’s right there. It’s in front of your face. Okay, you need four more. Indiana’s no joke. Exceptionally well coached by Rick Cara, but damn it, we’ll deal with that Wednesday. Right now it’s Friday night and we got until Wednesday to celebrate what has just transpired. Yes, we do. Go to the conference. I have to get this man off my back. I have to get this man off my back. So, New York, let’s get it done. All right. Let’s get it done. Just I love you. I love you. It’s just a memory. It’s an immor. It was one game. It was game seven NBA finals. Okay. It hurts me, but I love you. I love you to like you did so much. And by the way, Jaylen Brunson came up to me and said, “I have nothing to say to you.” Carl Anthony Town said, “You picked the wrong team because I picked Boston before the series began.” I, like everybody else in America, changed my mind when they won games one and two in Boston. Come on, man. It wasn’t anybody picking Boston outside of New York Nick fans. I mean, come on now. They don’t picking the Knicks against the Boston Celtics. But when you stay true, those when you won the first two Hey, here’s here’s here’s my logic. Here’s the logic. Okay, what’s the logic? When they won the first two games, I switched it up, right? But I didn’t mind being held accountable for picking against the Knicks because that’s when they play best. Oh, I don’t give a damn about being wrong. If that means that you going to step it up and play, you see call Anthony Towns play. You see, I’ve been calling him out the last couple of days. You see how he played tonight? He played. That’s right. Play big and then came and then came over to me and said, “Yo, you keep getting at me.” And I was like, “This you see it worked, didn’t you? So wait, they they they needed you to encourage them. So then does that mean you’re picking the Pacers in the next round? Is that how this works? No, he’s not going to do that. He’s not going to do that. I’m not doing that. I’m not that one at a time. Orange and blue skies, baby. We going to ride this momentum right into the finals. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. This is the next moment. Get this man off my back. Okay. Finally. Finally. I I won’t be on his back anymore. I won’t be on his back anymore. I promise. I promise. This is the Knicks moment. You guys deserve it. Hey, Stephen A. John Starks, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it, guys. This is your night. Yes, sir. Enjoy.

Stephen A. Smith is joined by Knicks legend John Starks on the court at Madison Square Garden as they react to New York defeating the Boston Celtics in Game 6 to advance to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years.

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