Getty Image / Nic Antaya
The dream run for the New York Knicks appears to be coming to an end.
Fans had to be feeling great when the team took down the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had beaten them to Donovan Mitchell during the offseason, and then learned they would get to play the 8-seed Miami Heat in the next round.
It was seemingly going to be a much friendlier matchup than if they had to take on Giannis and the Bucks and it meant they would have home-court advantage in the series.
Unfortunately for Knicks fans, this series has not gone as expected. They dropped Game 1 at home, but an injury to Jimmy Butler kept him out of Game 2. The Knicks barely came away with a win even with him unavailable for the Heat.
The Knicks have now lost both games in Miami with Butler back in the lineup and are facing elimination as they head back to Madison Square Garden for Game 5.
After the Knicks lost last night, ESPN’s Mike Greenberg offered up a hilariously bad excuse for why the Bockers struggled the last two games. According to Greenberg, the Miami weather is taking the energy out of the Knicks.
ESPN’s Mike Greenberg thinks the weather in Miami is sapping energy out of the Knicks pic.twitter.com/viApZoU4pM
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) May 9, 2023
Greenberg acts like the Knicks are going to Lambeau to play in the snow. They’re playing inside an air conditioned arena.
There’s also one other big issue with Greenberg’s theory. The Knicks haven’t looked all that good at MSG either.
The reality is that the Knicks just aren’t built to win in the playoffs. As good as Jalen Brunson has been this year, he hasn’t proven to be the kind of star that can put a team on his back in the playoffs.
Julius Randle also isn’t that guy.
The Knicks don’t shoot the ball well enough to stretch opposing defenses, but are still hoisting an obscene amount of 3s every night.
The Miami Heat bench has also been better than their Knicks counterparts.
Maybe next year they can put together a roster that is better equipped for the big moments, but this New York Knicks looks like they are going to need to just be happy with winning their first playoff series in a decade.