Knicks adamant they can prove their Celtics doubters wrong by playing with freedom
BOSTON — The Knicks are David.They are the long shot.The little guy.
The double-digit NCAA Tournament seed trying to punch above its weight class.Nobody is giving them a shot.The Celtics are a whopping 9.5-point favorite in Monday night’s Game 1 at TD Garden, and are minus-800 to reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the fourth straight season and fifth time in six years.In a recent ESPN poll of its analysts, all 11 picked the Celtics to advance, and only two of them saw the series going a full seven games.
Boston swept Tom Thibodeau’s team during the regular season, winning three of the four games by double figures, outclassing the Knicks for the most part.“I don’t care,” Josh Hart, the most vocal Knick, said on Sunday on the eve of this Eastern Conference semifinal matchup.“If we’re counted out already, then we should play with a great level of freedom.
We don’t really care too much what the outside world says.We’re focused on how we feel internally and going about it that way.“With us, we don’t really involve ourselves with what other people think.
Same people who praise us one day kill us the other, so we’re focused on us.”To Hart, the regular season is irrelevant.It has nothing to do with the playoffs.
The Knicks lost three of four games to the Pistons in the regular season, then ended their season in the opening round.Mitchell Robinson played in only one of the four contests against the Celtics, and it was the game the Knicks should’ve won, losing by two in overtime after Jayson Tatum forced the extra session with a 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation.Sports+ subscribers: Sign up for Inside the Knicks to get daily newsletter coverage and join Expert Take for insider texts about the series.The 7-footer makes a major difference defensively.All that matters is how Jalen Brunson and the Knicks perform starting Monday night.
The Celtics’ only tangible advantage is they get one extra game at home.“It’s the regular...