The Knicks really let this one slip away. It’s puzzling, really—why couldn’t they finish strong in this game?
After a tough 138-135 overtime loss to the Pacers on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, the players seemed to turn inward rather than pointing fingers. They didn’t talk much about what Indiana did right but rather what they failed to do.
“We didn’t close the game,” Josh Hart reflected. “It feels like our energy dipped. We got slower and started reacting too much to what they were doing. We let it get away from us… Defensively, I felt like we were off. We simply didn’t exhibit the strength we needed.”
At one point, the Knicks were up by 14 with just under three minutes left in the fourth. Historically, teams in that position—994-0 in postseason games—would have sealed the deal. Yet here they were.
“You have to trust your defense,” Coach Tom Thibodeau emphasized. “We missed free throws, which was a blow. We need to be more alert in those moments. The turnover was costly; they turned it into easy points. We couldn’t execute in the crucial stretches.”
The Knicks insist they aren’t shaken by this result.
They’ve got one day to regroup before facing the Pacers again on Friday.
“The best playoffs are those where you bounce back from the worst losses,” Jalen Brunson said. “We were thinking we’d finish strong, but now it’s back to reality. We need to review the game and come prepared for Game 2.”
Historically, the Knicks have shown resilience after losses. They’re currently 4-0 in this postseason following defeats.
Now, more than ever, that capacity for bounce-back is essential.
“It’s tough. We’re definitely disappointed,” Hart admitted. “But this series isn’t won or lost after a single game.”
