The New York Knicks have shocked the basketball world by stealing the first two games of their second-round series against the Boston Celtics to go up 2-0. Both games were won behind thrilling comeback wins, and now they suddenly have all of the momentum with the series heading back to New York.
The Knicks want to start games stronger moving forward
However, despite winning both games, some of the Knicks players are still not satisfied with the results. Josh Hart emphasized the need for them to apply pressure from start to finish in each game.
“We have to continue to build,” Hart said via SNY. “We have to continue to put together a full game. I think that’s something that we haven’t done during these playoffs. We get leads. We surrender leads. We come back from big leads. We’ve got to figure out (how to put together) a complete game.”
To Hart’s point, the Knicks have started the first two games of the series slowly. In Game 2, they scored just 13 first quarter points and had no answer for the Celtics’ defense.
The Knicks must keep their foot on the gas the rest of the way
It looked to be one of those long nights until they finally strung together offense down the stretch in the fourth quarter. That, along with their strong defensive prowess, is what propelled the Knicks to these wins, but they have to keep their foot on the gas to take care of the series.
The Celtics have shown to be a lethal scoring team from beginning to end, and the Knicks cannot afford to continue getting into big holes. Despite their resilience, the preferred method of winning would be to dominate them in every facet for all 48 minutes.
The Knicks will have their best chance to do that with the series heading back home on Saturday. That game is scheduled for 3:30 P.M. EST. and will be broadcast nationally on ABC.