The Knicks Are Done

After last night's 96-93 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game #2, I have figured out one thing.

This series is over!

The Knicks might have outplayed the Celtics in both games but they're still down 2-0 in the Best of 7 series.

That was a gutsy effort against the Celtics last night but it still wasn’t enough.  Carmelo Anthony scored 42 points and grabbed 17 rebounds but it wasn't enough.  The Knicks gave Boston everything they had - with 2 of their All-Stars - but it wasn't enough.

Knicks fans have been coming up to me all day and saying, “Well….if we just did this or that, we would have won.”  Well, guess what?  That’s what separates the good teams from the average ones.  The good teams get it done in crunch time while the average teams poop their pants.  Boston is clutch in the playoffs while the Knicks have pooped their pants.

Not having Chauncey Billups or Amar'e Stoudemire will eventually catch up with them.  It’s one thing to play without both players for a game - but to have to do that for the rest of the series is too much. Amar’e will probably be back for Game #3 but Billups probably won’t - he could be out for the rest of the series.

Carmelo carried the Knicks on his back for the entire game and nearly pulled it off.  That even defied the NBA Theory of Sinkativity that says you need a Hall of Famer and a couple of All-Stars to win it all - or at least have All-Stars to win playoff games.  But the cast of characters the Knicks had on the court at the end of last night's game looked like a D-League roster.

Flat out, the Celtics are just a better team.  Boston has players that might be old and grizzled but they are so clutch.  New York is still learning how to win.  The Knicks are probably a year or so away.

Honestly, did any Knicks fans really think this was the year they were going to be making a huge playoff run?  I certainly didn't.