Currently at the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference, the New York Knicks are still among the top teams in the East. Dealing with significant injuries to key rotational players, the Knicks have still been able to hold their own as they boast a 36-25 record so far. However, Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce does not seem to be a fan of the team’s recent antics, drawing comparisons to Instagram models to explain their current status in the league.
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Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett talked about the New York Knicks in the latest episode of KG Certified. Despite standing their ground without their star player, Julius Randle, Pierce was still not impressed with NY. He seemed to think that they have been faltering after their good run before the All-Star break. In fact, Pierce went on to call their performances a case of false advertisement.
“The Knicks is like an Instagram model. I be on Instagram and I be like, ‘Damn, she fine.’ Then you catch ‘em in person and you’re like…’This you?’ It’s too many filters,” Pierce hilariously said.
Paul Pierce’s unorthodox analogy could be broken down pretty simply. The Knicks are looking like a good team with a pretty decent season record on paper. However, the squad now is nowhere close to being a title-contending roster as it was earlier this year. While it may not have reflected on their record and conference standings, the Knicks are struggling to scrape together wins. In their last 10 games, the New York Knicks have only won three contests.
And even out of those three games, the Knicks’ most impressive win came against the Cleveland Cavaliers in their most recent matchup, losing their leading scorer, Jalen Brunson early in the game.
Pierce’s recent take on the Knicks comes in the wake of the team being surrounded with some major hype in recent years. The noise around the franchise has been drawing comparisons to the 1999 Knicks, who competed in the NBA Finals. While the hype may been real earlier this year, things do not look to be getting better for New York as the season progresses further. With Brunson going down after Randle, the team will have to deal with another injury to a star player on the roster.
Paul Pierce changes his perspective towards the Knicks
It took the New York Knicks franchise a while but they eventually found their way back to the team’s glory days. The team had a great roster with a well-balanced mix of young players and veterans at the start of the season. And all of a sudden, the Knicks were shaping up to be a real contender in the East. Even Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett had a different perspective about the team only a few months before this episode.
Apart from the two Celtics legends, the Knicks even managed to impress veteran NBA analyst, Stephen A. Smith. With the way New York had been playing earlier this season, Stephen A. had high expectations from the team, stating they should at least make it to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Unfortunately for New York fans, things started to go downhill when All-Star forward Julius Randle got sidelined with a dislocated shoulder. And now, the injury to Brunson was the last thing that the team needed to stay afloat.
As per reports, Jalen Brunson will be questionable for the Knicks’ matchup tomorrow against the Hawks. So, the team will be playing without two of its leading scorers on their roster in their upcoming game. It would be interesting to see who would step up in the absence of Brunson and Randle to take on the team’s offensive load. Tune into MSG Network at 7:30 PM ETY to see the Knicks host the Atlanta Hawks at Madison Square Garden.
