New York supporters were left beyond dejected after Tyrese Maxey took over in the dying seconds of regulation to lead the Philadelphia 76ers. With his team blowing a seven-point lead with just 18 seconds remaining, Stephen A Smith was among the many fans who seemed to be baffled by the humiliating loss suffered by Jalen Brunson and co. To express his emotions, the ESPN analyst took to Instagram and went on a passionate rant.
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The New York Knicks have had a pleasantly surprising season so far. Apart from finishing 2nd in the Eastern Conference, the team’s performances in the first few games of the first-round series also motivated fans to believe they could make a push to make the Conference Finals. However, in an unfortunate turn of events, fans have pinpointed tonight’s outing as the worst loss of the season.
Stephen A. Smith, a superfan of the Knicks for the past several years, was frustrated after the Knicks suffered the OT loss. Reacting to Game 5, the analyst highlighted multiple mistakes that Tom Thibodeau’s boys could’ve avoided.
Smith asked, “Why did Mitchell Robinson foul Tyrese Maxey on that three-point shot? Why did Josh Hart make the turnover? Why did he not convert both free throws instead of just one? Why did he seem so erratic throughout the game? As great as Jalen Brunson was overall with his 40-point performance, did you not notice you had four teammates on the court with you in overtime to pass the ball to instead of taking every damn shot?”
Lastly, Smith stated that New York could not afford to make such crucial errors, especially without Julius Randle on the court.
“New York Knicks with the injuries, Julius Randle, are not fully armed. But they can’t afford to play like that. But they did and they gave a big time three from the logo… It’s a whole bunch of mistakes to point to,” the 56-year-old said.
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The New York Knicks had the perfect chance to seal the series at home tonight. Now, as it did in Game 4, the team will have to try to clinch a win on the road at the Wells Fargo Center. Despite only being one win away from advancing to the next round, Jalen Brunson and co. will now have more pressure than the 76ers if the series is tied at 3 games apiece.
In other words, things could get extremely worrying if New York fails to finish this series in six games.
