Stephen A.’s CONFIDENCE METER on the Knicks to WIN IT ALL?! 👀 | First Take

Stephen A.’s CONFIDENCE METER on the Knicks to WIN IT ALL?! 👀 | First Take

It’s grown extremely quiet as you would expect here at the Garden. The Knicks now go home. Stops at a dime. Launches. Oh yeah. Pure joy here at Madison Square Garden. For the first time in two and a half decades, the New York Knicks are going to a conference final. We haven’t been here since my dad played. He’s not going to like that. It means a lot for this this organization in this city. It’s unbelievable. This what you see that score. You see that score? This is what we’ve been waiting for. We about to go to C final. We about to go to C final. Hey, as Stephen A said, your girls back in the mix and clearly so are the New York Knicks. Stephen A, top of the morning to you. Chenet Marcus, what’s the good word, guys? How we doing? Bank or playing. I’m not going to lie, this was a great weekend to be in New York. Right. It was a great weekend. You had good weather. Had all that energy. I appreciate I appreciate you, Chen. I appreciate you, Molly. Yo, Marcus, man, this ain’t the time to be not in that chair. You can’t be sitting up there this morning reclining back, sounding all mellow, putting on your Barry White or Teddy Pendergrass voice. Hell with that. Okay, it’s time to be excited, baby. You’re in New York City. First time in 25 years, Marcus. First time in 25 years we in the conference finals. I need a little more pep in your step this way. Some of us are going to act like we’ve been there before. I mean, but the Knits fire. All right, guys. Let’s dive in. So, the Knicks came to play and then some Friday night, demolishing the Celtics in front of a live New York crowd at MSG to the tune of 119 to 81. The result was never really in doubt when they celebrated outside the garden like it was 2000. That’s the last time the Knicks reached the conference finals, which Stephen A alluded to. So, guys, let’s look back in time for a minute. The top movie in America was Gladiator at that time. The top song, Maria Maria, Carlos Santana. That was a banger, I’m not going to lie. Survivors first season debuted and gas prices were only a$152. Get back to that. Right. The last time we saw the Knicks in the conference finals. Unbelievable. My goodness. Okay. Uh Stephen I talk to me. How unbelievable has this Knicks run been? Honestly. Well, listen, it it it’s unbelievable from the standpoint the greatness of Jaylen Brunson has come shining through and we’ve seen other guys for the Knicks step up and and you got to give credit where credit is due. I’m not some delusional, nauseiating fan like Dallas Cowboy fans can be where I’m I’m I’m I’m completely detached from reality. You know, we going to win the Super Bowl next year. You know, we going to do No, this is not that kind of party. I recognize the fact that for the vast majority of this series, the Boston Celtics just miss shots. Um, I listened to to Marcus on Get Up earlier when he was talking about about 63 of those 100 plus three-point shots they attempted in the series were wide open. And that’s something if you remember Molly I kept bringing up um in the aftermath of game two being down 02. Of the first 100 threes that they attempted, 48 of them were considered wide open. And for those out there who don’t know what wide open means when it comes to NBA parlance 6 feet or beyond you that that’s the kind of space a defender is giving you. You’re wide open and that’s what happened to the Boston Celtics. So I’m aware of the fact that they just weren’t making shots. I’m aware of the fact that they didn’t step up in game six um after you know obviously Tatum was out and out of game five. What they did in game five they didn’t do in game six. But in the end, a victory is a victory. And the Knicks grit and the Knicks guts uh deserves credit. Carl Anthony Towns getting on me saying, “You count you you got on me twice.” And I said to him, “Damn it, didn’t it work both times?” Cuz it worked. It worked in game six. Jaylen Brunson came up to me and was like, “This not going to even say anything to you.” Cuz he’s reminded me of the fact that I didn’t even think that he was worthy of being drafted in the NBA years ago. So, I mean, that’s something that he always throws at me. It’s all in fun. It’s all love. I deserve it because damn it, I was calling them to the carpet partially of urgency, but part partially from paranoia cuz I was scared they were going to blow this. I’m happy they didn’t. I love the fact that they’re in the conference finals. They got a legitimate shot to get to the championship round. We know this. But in the end, I’m not going to be foolhardy and ignore the fact that the New York Knicks were benefited by the fact that the Boston Celtics didn’t change their stripes. They just attempted to shoot, shoot, shoot and they just were not making shots. Yeah. And that was a big difference in this series. Yeah. Marcus, I mean, I think the Tatum thing, like when they lost Tatum, it it was, you know, it was tough, but them first two games, I I got to keep putting my finger on that. Like being up 20 at home in the playoffs, um, the defending champs, and, you know, just having that that capability to be able to get shots where where they want, but like those shots were open, right? like those shots were open, but still the Knicks had to still win the game. And we were talking about that earlier. Like yes, they did miss open shots, but the Knicks still had to complete the comeback. And I think you have to take your hats off that. Like it’s it’s extremely hard to win in Boston during the playoffs. Like that is one of the tougher plays outside of the Garden. That’s probably top two or three, right? To be able to come down come back from down 20 is the most impressive thing I haven’t seen in this playoff in years. So, you know what’s crazy? Uh, I finally get it now. Stephen A. Marcus Molly. I understand it. You see the t-shirts, you hear the phrase, I love New York. I’m like, oh, I get it now. The energy is completely different. Give me that t-shirt at the airport. Um, because this team didn’t win based off of analytics. They didn’t win off of a proliferation of threes. They didn’t win based off of having one player that just goes bonker. It was a we all we got mentality. and being in the garden alongside Stephen A watching all the shenanigans happen. It was truly a special environment and I want to appreciate the fans. It feels like every one of the fans get screened. Do you know this Knicks history? Like this was a basketball audience and they literally were trying to will their team to a win and their their team delivered. If you think about it like what Jaylen Brun it was like changing your stripes. Sometimes he’s ball dominant but knowing that he had to get his teammates involved. That’s what we saw. Josh Hart had a triple double like 11 10 and 10. I thought that the Knicks actually won the game in the first five minutes when they decided to go to Carl Anthony Towns and tell him to be aggressive on both ends and also get contributions like this. I hope we have the play. Shout out to Mitchell Robinson literally guarding every player on the Boston Celtics. Did you guys see what Perk likes to call moving your puppies? Here he goes to the wing then he stops to swing the ball. He’s playing ballhog. He gets beat. He has that rim protection. Then he closes out to the corner under control. Forces a turnover. And that is a play in which Carl Anthony Towns scores. This is heart. This is hustle. Am I going to say it? This is New York. This is New York. You brought up Carl Anthony Towns. It was very very important to me to mention this. I don’t like him in the post at all. I mean, when he when he even when he’s dunking and he comes down, you’re always worried about him getting injured because you always he always seems gimpy a lot of times. Marcus, when I’m watching him, when he’s just setting and shooting, the brothers straight fire. No question about that. Hasn’t been in this past series. And I get that, but he is arguably the best shooting big man in basketball. But coming in to game six, what they said was, “We going to let you be aggressive. We going to let you play bully ball. Do what you got to do. Just be in attack mode.” And he answered the call. And I got to give him a lot of love for that. All right. Ch is losing her mind. Yeah. How are you saying you don’t like this? They made the last two games, games five and six, the concerted effort for him to be aggressive and a lot of the things that the Celtics should have been doing, that was the adjustment that No, because I didn’t like Yeah. to answer the question, because I didn’t like what I saw from him over the first four games in that regard. What I’m saying to you is that it’s it’s how you do it. And y’all both know basketball, you’ll understand what I’m saying. Him just lowering his shoulder and barreling forward. A lot of times you had guys that were shorter but that were had strong lower extremities and they were like holding their position or whatever and it looked like a struggle in the first four games of the series. Games five and six was a little bit different obviously and I understood that and that was a concerted effort that they made and I applaud that. I just want to see that stroke because I know how lethal he can be and he wasn’t making that shot. But the fact that he answered the call in game six the way that he did also served as a strong level of inspiration for the New York Knicks and we can’t ignore that. Marcus, I think we was waiting on that. like we was waiting for a staple game from Towns and he gave it to us on the biggest stage to get them to the the uh the final I mean the semi-finals and he delivered. Hey, for them to actually win this series car I think Towns has to play well like he cannot go back to those first four games where he’s struggling. He has to be super aggressive. He has to attack the mismatches and I think it’s just time I if if the if the trade work then now you’ll be able to see it right here. Well, he was playing damn good defense. He was playing damn good defense. Number one. Number two, I want to give major major h thanks. I want to give kudos Molly to Mr. Julius Randall of the Minnesota Timberwolves. I think Carl Anthony Towns was watching that brother. I think he was watching that brother and seeing what he was doing and he was like, “Yo, man, I got traded I got traded here for that guy. Let me make sure I show up too because he knows he knows New York well enough to know. Look, we w we you see that brother Julius Randle over there? Well, what you going to do? Cuz we we we we could have had him instead of you. you understand and call Anthony Towns answer. So, I’m very appreciative here’s the deal. You know, I love to stay in the moment and an Eastern Conference Finals appearance. It’s cute. But let’s get to it. We know what this is all about. We’re talking about Rams. We’re talking about championships. We’re talking about New York. How confident are you that your New York Knicks can win it all? Molly, I’m not going to go higher than 40%. But stay with me, y’all. Stay with me. I want to make sure I want to see Marcus and Chen when I’m talking about this fellas. Put them up. I got the orange and blue skies. We ain’t going nowhere. Here’s the deal. Here’s the deal. The Indiana Pacers scared the living hell out of me. They ain’t going to miss shots like Boston did. That’s not going to happen. That’s not going to happen. They’re going to make shots and the New York Knicks are going to have to be better offensively in order to beat the Indiana Pacers. I’m picking the Knicks to win this series. Make no mistake about that. But I because I don’t think back-to-back years in a game seven they going down at the Garden. I don’t I refuse to believe that. But I think this series is going to go seven games. Indiana should scare people for another reason. They’ve said nothing. All this noise that New York has been making. Have you noticed how quiet the Indiana Pacers have been? This is not what they usually do. But you know what? They know what they can do. They know how lethal and how big time they can be. And I think they’re going to be ready. And this is going to be an epic series. But the garden is the garden. As Chené pointed out, there is a different flavor, a different vibe that forces the opposition at times to shrink. Okay? And I believe that that is what is going to happen in this series when it counts most. And then if I have my brothers, if I have my brothers, I’m not picking the series yet, but I’m just telling you what I would fantasize about. I’m not going to even say the team. I’m not going to even say the team. Antman at the Garden with a championship on the line. I believe Anthony Edwards to be Jordanesque. Not Jordan, but Jordanesque. how he plays, the vibe and the fur with which which he brings to the game, the athleticism, the shot leading three-point shooting basketball. You when you talk about box office, you talk about box office, the garden is one thing and I own OKC. I’m looking forward to going out to OKC and that fan base is going to be rabid and loud and I get all of that. But but you the garden you typ I know you want to keep it a secret, but I think we’re picking up what you’re putting down. Ant-Man. But Ant-Man, we know at the guard. Oh my lord. Stephen A. So you give you give your nicks a 40% chance. But my question is, this is the most important question. Where is your anxiety? Cuz last week it was at an eight out of 10. Hopefully we’re at like a five. Yeah, we’re about five. About five. Okay, good. Okay, good. Is that before the first game or or or that just where you starting at right now? That was him. That was him. That’s where I’m starting at right now. Hold on. Whoa, whoa, whoa. In case you didn’t know, it’s fluid. It’s fluid. You’re saying it’s is at a five now. It could go up or it could go down. Serious, but as of right now, it’s fluid. It’s at a five. When’s the game? Is it Wednesday? Yeah. It’ll be back at eight by Wednesday. It’ll be it’ll be back. Look, I I I agree with you, Stephen. A like the Pacers are by the eye test probably one of the scariest teams because they have the best offense right now of the remaining playoff teams. They’re clicking on all cylinders. And also, we just witnessed a postseason where Tyrese Hallebert, he’s on one. He’s literally on one. I know we know the song like what the hell? What? You know, all that type of stuff. Like you’re in the song because you’ve got it going on. And if you saw him in isolation, clutch time down the stretch. He’s not afraid of the moment. He actually likes to slay Giants, too. We saw him take down, you know, Giannis with that isolation one-on-one. We saw what he was able to do late in game versus the Cavs. Once again, you know, you see him get to the rim. You see him knock down threes. Even in games where his shot is not necessarily falling, when he has the ball in his hands with a chance to win, that is a very, very scary sight. which is why I’m excited to see what he does in the garden. But overall, this team, like you said, their supporting cast, it’s almost like they elevate since January 1. I think they’ve had a similar record to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Like that’s how good, that’s how well they have been balling. So, I’m looking at the Pacers. You know, I’m not surprised if people take the Pacers in this series. I do think in the playoffs the game slows down. It’s a little bit more of a grind. I think the Knicks, they’re they’re graduating. I still have the Knicks in six because I saw what that did for me, you know, last week. Um, but it will not be easy. It could easily go to seven. Five. Marcus, where are you on this? I’m definitely leaning towards the Knicks, but I got to go back to what Essay said in the beginning about like just flying under the radar. Like the Pacers have like even to beat the Milwaukee Bucks without Dame is really hard because you still have to control Giannis, right? And then to actually get out of the series with Cleveland, I thought that was very impressive. Like I had Cleveland going to the Eastern Conference finals from the beginning of the year. Oh, from the trade deadline when they got the Andre Hunter. I thought that would really change the dynamic of this team and get them over the hump. What Indiana did was very impressive. I got to give it to the team aspect of like moving the ball, everybody buying into the system. Like I love seeing that, right? Where guys can just elevate their game in a certain system that is not like predicated to just one or two players. Like this is a system and Tyrese Hallebert is the the best catalyst you can have to holding the ball having the ball down up moving it around getting guys with way more confidence playing to another level. Like I love what he’s doing in Indiana and like just just just the swagger of Indiana. Like I would love to be on a team where everybody’s counting us out. Like we have nothing to lose. I feel like they’re playing with house money and they’re doing a really good job. Well, hold on hold. Almost certain. I don’t think they’re being counted out. I don’t think they’re being under the radar. I I don’t I wouldn’t say counted out, but I I I don’t think that a lot of people have Indiana winning this series. Like if you if you would put this on paper and you push it ahead and you say Indiana Knicks, people would probably say based off of the paper and the eye tests with how they performed at Pacers. No, I wouldn’t say so. And the reason I wouldn’t like we’ve just starting to seen a different like level of Holland as far as like being an ISO score at the end of the games and being able to put the games away. Like Jaylen Brunson is the guy, right? like he’s been doing that the entire season and in these playoffs and going down to the wire, you need to have a guy that can get it from three different levels and he’s probably the only guy in this series that can go to three different levels and get a buck when really quick Stephen and my question then is based off of what they were able to do in a short amount of time, do you think their team is probably playing better versus the Knicks they still have a potential to reach? I think the Knicks have another level if they get a consistent Carl Anthony Towns. If OG Anobi is not going from zero and six points to 20, like if they reach that potential, they’re there. I think the Pacers are already playing peak. Jack and and that’s the part like the Knicks still can play better. And that’s the scary part. Like that’s why I’m like that’s why I got the Knicks in. I don’t know when I don’t know I don’t know what game I have the Knicks in. I don’t I don’t I don’t know when they going to win it, but I still go down to being able to have a guy that can get a bucket from all three levels when it’s time to get one. Stephen, are you Nick? Let me help. Let me help No, no. Seven. Let me help you out here. Let Let me Let me help you out here. First of all, nobody’s underestimating the Indiana Pacers. What we’re doing, Marcus, is revealing our preference. Folks would rather be in New York than Indiana. That’s what that’s about. Okay, we all know that the Indiana Pacers have a shot, have a very legitimate shot. This is a 50/50 series right here. And let me tell you why. One of the biggest elements, you can look at a guy like Miles Turner and others and you see their depth as well, right? You see cats that can step away from the basket and shoot jump shots. All right, so that helps. Then you’ve got bench production. Indiana’s bench in this postseason has been producing at nearly 36 points per game. The New York Knicks are at 14. And so now because of that, their depth and the discrepancy that I just highlighted puts Indiana at an advantage because you do find yourself wondering, okay, that starting five and then Tibs is willing to go seven deep if he has to, of course, with Mitchell Robinson and to a lesser degree McBride, but pretty much nobody else. And when you look at Indiana, they got cats all over the place. It’s Nemhard one minute, right? It’s N Smith another, it’s Hallebertton, it’s Turner, it’s Matin. I mean, you looking at a bunch of these cats and you’re like, damn, they they they got a crew now. So, nobody’s underestimating them. It’s just a preference. But in the end, the garden is something and it’s something where people show up and show out or they flinch beneath that beneath that pressure. And Indiana has shown us they can they can stand up to it. But that’s when the nicks had a bunch of injuries. You got to like OG Noi wasn’t good for most of the series last year. Josh Hart ended up getting hurt. Jaylen Brunson ended up getting hurt. There was really really no chance. Now all the Knicks are healthy. So if everybody’s healthy, what you gonna get then? And that’s what we gonna find out. Absolutely.

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Chiney Owgumike and Marcus Morris Sr. join Molly Qerim to discuss the New York Knicks eliminating the Boston Celtics to advance to the Western Conference Finals of the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Then they, discuss the Eastern Conference finals matchup between the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers.

0:00 Knicks defeat the Celtics to advance
2:15 How impressive has the Knicks’ run been?
5:30 How did the Knicks advance to the conference finals?
9:42 Can the Knicks win it all?
11:25 Potential of Anthony Edwards vs. Knicks in the finals?
12:51 The Pacers should not be overlooked

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