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The Knicks’ Game 1 loss on Wednesday was so devastating that it made Stephen A. Smith sick.
During ESPN’s pregame coverage ahead of Thursday’s Western Conference finals matchup between the Thunder and Timberwolves, Smith said that watching the Knicks’ loss made him so “nauseous” that he broke out a bottle of Pepto-Bismol during his rant.
“Well, I was nauseous,” Smith said on the broadcast. “It was a disgusting performance, and we are going to give this [Pepto-Bismol] an advertisement here because every Knick fan needed this. If I could down this like some Sprite, I would do it right now.”
Despite being up by 14 with less than three minutes left in regulation, the Knicks managed to let the lead evaporate, with Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton hitting a game-tying buzzer-beater, sending the game to overtime.
The Knicks ultimately lost in the extra frame after scoring just six points in the game’s final three minutes, a performance that Smith called a “choke job.”
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“Complete collapse, it was a choke job,” Smith added to his rant. “That’s right, that’s what I’m calling it. We are going to see what they will do to respond. Because let me tell you something right now, they look like a team that don’t practice. That’s how they look.”
The magnitude of the Knicks’ collapse has rarely been seen throughout NBA history, as they were the first team since 1998 to blow a nine-point lead in the final minute of a playoff game, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks reacts on the bench during the fourth quarter. Jason Szenes / New York PostKnicks players have taken responsibility for the loss and appear ready to come back for Game 2 on Friday.
“We didn’t close the game out,” Josh Hart said. “I feel like our intensity dropped. We started playing slower, playing more into their hands.
“We let that one slip. … I feel like defensively, we let off the gas. Intensity and physicality weren’t there, offensively we were playing slower, a little stagnant, and looked like we were playing not to lose. We gotta make sure we don’t make that mistake again.”
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