Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Knicks lost to the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the first round of the postseason yesterday, slightly slimming down their series lead to 3-1. The 97-90 loss in overtime, however, means absolutely nothing for New York going forward.
The Knicks were without their second leading scorer, (Sixth Man of the Year) J.R. Smith, who was suspended after being ejected in Game 3 for hitting Boston’s Jason Terry with a mean elbow to the chin. Had the Knicks had Smith, the game would have been over in the fourth quarter, and New York would’ve left Boston with the next round on their mind.
The Celtics- with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Terry- were not going to go down without a fight. The team is loaded with expiring stars, and these veterans still have some game left in them. Pierce, for example, led the C’s with 29 points as Terry scored the team’s last nine points.
The Knicks need to kill this series in Game 5, though. Otherwise, Boston will live to see another day, and the longer the series goes the more it favors Doc Rivers’ army of veterans.
Knicks’ big-man Kenyon Martin has the right idea. As the clock winded down at the end of overtime, Terry told K-Mart that New York wouldn’t be “dancing at his funeral today.” Martin, with the rest of his teammates, plans on putting a stop to this series Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.
“We’re ending it Wednesday,” Martin said in preparation for Game 5. “Wear black,” he told his teammates. “Funeral colors.”
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