The Knicks might be the toast of New York right now, sitting fourth in the Eastern Conference standings. But Paul Pierce still isn’t necessarily a believer.
On the first episode of his new DraftKings Network show, The Truth Lounge, Pierce and childhood friend and hoop legend Jason Crowe talked about whether the Knicks are a real threat in the East.
Crowe doesn’t think they have a real chance to win it all, but he thinks they will break some hearts. Pierce disagrees, saying Knicks fans can continue to hate him, but he doesn’t see them breaking any hearts. In fact, he takes it a step even further.
Paul Pierce says the Knicks could lose in the first round! He notes that if the matchup is Knicks vs. 76ers and Joel Embiid is back, he’s taking the 76ers. And he says Embiid is coming back.
Even if it’s not the 76ers, Pierce asks Crowe if he thinks they could beat the Pacers. Crowe thinks the Knicks have the defense and the young bodies. Pierce still isn’t a believer.
“I’m going to say it right now: Knicks will not make it out of the first round,” the Truth said directly into camera. “Knicks will not make it out of the first round and I’m standing on that.”
Pierce even thinks there could be teams who attempt to lose some games at the end of the year so that they can end up matched with the Knicks. Crowe says Indiana was too fast for the Knicks in the regular season, but he thinks Tom Thibodeau will be locked in on the gameplan and won’t be having that. He thinks the problem for the Knicks will be Boston as the Celtics’ double wings will be tough for them. But Crowe likes that the Knicks have a fourth-quarter scorer in Brunson and that the Knicks can play a half-court game.
Paul loves Brunson, but he says if Brunson is your best player you can’t wain a championship, although you can get out of the first round because Paul feels like if your best player is your point guard, you can’t win a championship, with a few exceptions (Isiah, Magic and Curry). Then he threw down the gauntlet.
“If the Knicks make it out of the first round, I will wear a Knicks jersey, a Brunson jersey, for a week,” the Celtics legend said.
Check out the full conversation below and watch new episodes every Friday at 6 p.m. ET on DraftKings Network – available on the Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus, Xumo Play, Google TV, and right here! See more about how to watch DraftKings Network here.
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Check out the DraftKings YouTube page and the All The Smoke Productions YouTube page for more. The show will be available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can follow Paul Pierce on X at @paulpierce34, as well as All The Smoke Productions at @allthesmokeprod and DraftKings Network at @dknetwork.
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