We are in the hole 2-1. Last I checked it's a 7 game series.
Anyone remember that first Bulls Knicks 7 game series under Riley? Oak set the tone when on an early baseline drive, he leveled Mister Bill with a forearm shiv. And the Julius having a bad start? Anyone remember how Xavier McDaniel spooked the estimable Scottie Pippen and completely took him out of his rhythm through the first six games.
Hey, even the best players get the playoff jitters. Anyone see Kyrie last night?
NO, Knicks fans, Julius' season WAS NOT A FUCKING MIRAGE, as someone suggested. But in the playoffs, the regular season DOES NOT COUNT FOR DICK. And in a seven game series, it is a chess game, in which coaches and players make adjustments, and take other teams out of their game. Like we did to the Hawks in Game 2, and like the Hawks did to us in Game 3. Game ONE being pretty even.
Always darkest before the dawn. No, motherfuckers, the regular season WAS NOT AN ABBERATION. But again, for the attention deficit disordered amongst you, needs we point out that these are the playoffs and seven game series. LOOK WHAT HAPPENNED TO THE UNBEATABLE NETS LAST NIGHT IN BOSTON.
Hello
So while the tendency to assign blame is overwhleming, and to focus on one player rather than 15, here are some interesting stats to chew on. Derrick Rose was a force as a scorer, really inspiring with 30 points, but he had only 5 assists. Trae Young had 14. Rose's +/- was a team leading -16. Young's +/- was +9.
NY came out of the first quarter up 31-29, but Atlanta spanked us in the second frame 29-13, and we could never make that up, playing 28-28 in the third and 22-19 in the fourth.
Finally, here are some interesting stats which belie the Julius choke narrative [ditto RJ, our number two scorer], even though he was clearly spooked. Knicks were 27-30 from the FT line [90%] while the Hawks were only 5-8 [62.5%]. Which goes to a good point Facil made about the GRIND versus GLIDE.
However, the Hawks were a whopping 16-27 [59.3%] from trey while the Knicks were 9-30 [30%]...additionally, the Hawks had 28 assists, while the the Knicks had 14.
So choking or simply out-fucking-played? The Hawks defensive intensity was ratcheted up from the opening possession, and as for OUR much vaunted defense, it is hard to win when the other team shoots damn near 60% from trey and you shoot 30%. Color me foolish, but THAT seems a more significant stat than JR's execrable 2-15 [
though that doth give one pause]
ADDENDUM: Rose's offensive game was uplifting, but I wonder how NOT HAVING HIM COME OFF THE BENCH affected the performance of our second unit. Least ways the game was ceded to the Hawks in a second quarter where we were outscored 29-13.
Anyway, CAN'T BLAME THIS LOSS ON ELFRID PAYTON, can we, Knicks fans?. 
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