A wild ending to Game 2 between the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers brought forward the essence of NBA playoffs. Despite a cold shooting performance from the Knicks’ talisman, Jalen Brunson, the franchise secured a 104-101 home win to take a 2-0 lead in the series. The thriving mindset of the organization caught the eyes of Kendrick Perkins as he later hyped them up publicly.
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Uploading a selfie on X (formerly Twitter), the sports analyst mentioned, “The rest of the league is watching the Knicks go up 2-0 with their up-and-coming superstar Brunson shooting 8-29 from the field. This is what happens when you don’t superstar hunt and build a culture and get WINNERS!!! Carry the hell on”.
His praise remained justified following the comeback victory of the hosts. Despite an off-night from Brunson, the rest of the roster never let the pressure get to them. In the closing moments of the game, the unity of the squad came to the forefront with Donte DiVincenzo and Isaiah Hartenstein stepping up.
With less than 20 seconds left, Hartenstein secured his fourth offensive rebound to provide DiVincenzo with an opportunity to score the game-winning three. The latter capitalized on the chance to give the Knicks a one-point lead with 13.1 seconds left. In the following possession, Hartenstein took charge yet again, blocking Tyrese Maxey’s fate-sealing layup attempt.
These endeavors excited Perkins so much that he soon made another declaration. The 39-year-old expressed his desire to visit Game 5 of the series in Maddison Square Garden, stating, “Somebody tell Leon Rose, William Wesley and Thibs that I’m in the MF building for Game 5!!!!”.
Following this, Perkins openly defended the pride of the team’s head coach, Tom Thibodeau. Shedding light on the latter’s greatness, the sports analyst wrote, “And another thing before I move on. All those soft ass players that said they wouldn’t want to play for Thibs… guess what? Thibs don’t want to coach yall cupcake asses either. Carry on”.
So, Perkins seems to be wholeheartedly admiring the resurgence of the Knicks franchise in recent times. However, the journey ahead for them remains a difficult one, with the 76ers hosting them in Philly for the upcoming two games. Consequently, the analyst also subtly hinted at the series potentially extending to Game 5. Yet, this provides another opportunity for the Knicks to prove the outsiders wrong by ensuring their semi-final spot in Philadelphia.
