The New York Knicks played in one of the best series in the first round of the NBA playoffs. The two seeded Knicks came into their series with the seven seeded Philadelphia 76ers as the underdog. Every game was close and the 76ers were close to forcing a game seven on Thursday night, but the Jalen Brunson-led Knicks prevailed and won on the road to advance. They have the NBA finals on their mind, but Draymond Green doesn't think that Brunson can lead them to a championship.
There's no denying the fact that Jalen Brunson has been extremely impressive in the playoffs so far. In the six games that the Knicks played against the 76ers, Brunson scored 22, 24, 39, 47, 40 and 41. He has been on fire and he put the Knicks on his back to get them past Philadelphia. However, Draymond Green doesn't think that this is sustainable.
“I don't hate the Knicks, however, I am honest and I'm not delusional, and a ball dominant Jalen Brunson ain't going to get you to the promised land I said,” Green said on his podcast. “I didn't say you weren't going to win a first round series, I didn't even say you weren't going to win the second round series, because if I'm honest I think you guys should easily win the second round series. So I didn't say that, I said you can't get to the promised land, and quite frankly if I'm honest, I still don't think you can. However, Jalen Brunson, as I told you already, has respect from me, he's earning more and more respect. Guy is getting it done every single night, had a couple bad games, bounced back. That's what I want to see when you're an up and coming guy and you're taking that next step in your career.”
Brunson and the Knicks proved a lot of people wrong in that first series, and they want to keep that up.
Knicks fans can rally around the Draymond Green Show
Draymond Green knows that his comments are getting under the skin of Knicks fans, and he has had a lot to say about those fans on his podcast recently. He thinks that they need something to rally around, and he is fine if they want to rally around his show.
“I’m not a Knicks hater, I’m just honest,” Green said. “I think a lot of Knicks fans are delusional and a lot of Knicks fans are nuts. We know Knicks fans are nuts, I don’t need to go into it, I know they need something to rally around, and that’s cool, like rally around the Draymond Green Show.”
The Knicks are now up against the Indiana Pacers in their next series. This should end up being a better matchup for New York than the 76ers, and that's why Green said that he thinks they will win this series. The road is bound to get tougher in the conference finals, however.
Game one between the Knicks and Pacers will get going on Monday night in New York at 7:30 ET. The Knicks are favored by 6.5 points. We'll see if Jalen Brunson can end up proving Green wrong.
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