00:00The fight for the two seed gets real on Thursday night. We got Celtics, Knicks at the Garden.
00:06Well, it's time to get real about the Knicks and the playoffs.
00:09So Jeff Johnson of Knicks Film School hopping on to talk about, dang, I got to say Knicks again,
00:15Knickerbockers, whatever it is we want to call it.
00:18Jeff, let's get straight into Thursday night's game, man.
00:21We got Boston, New York. It's always been a historic rival, a rivalry.
00:26It's like good versus evil, depending on which side you're on.
00:31Now you got Jalen Brown kind of becoming this new villain for the Knicks franchise and the fan base.
00:37I feel like this one's going to be for all the marbles, and that's the two seed.
00:41Do you feel like this is a must-win game for the Knicks, trying to lock up that two seed
00:46with three games left in the regular season?
00:49Well, Brandon, I'll tell you this. First off, if they want to get the two seed,
00:53then it's absolutely a must-win.
00:55I think it's more so a must-win because, well, first of all, we're at the end of the season.
00:59They locked up a playoff seed, so it's not really that critical.
01:03But both teams want to head into the playoffs with a lot of momentum.
01:08All roads are leading to a rematch in the semifinals between the Knicks and the Celtics.
01:12So you want to be able to establish yourself and get a litmus test on what the other team is
01:18going to do.
01:19I already know Joe Mazzulla's a sicko, so he's going to go after this game 100%.
01:25They want to lock up that two seed and be able to rest some players going into the postseason.
01:31So I think for the Knicks, you want to see where you are.
01:35And also, I think for both teams, you want to get into playoff shape.
01:39This is like the last part of your gym workout, your training regimen, where you're cutting the fat
01:45and you're doing all the extra cardio that you hate, but you know you're going to love it in the
01:49end
01:49when you get those results.
01:50You need to test yourself against the best iron sharpens iron, and we're going into a steel factory tomorrow.
01:56Man, you took us to the gym.
01:57Man, I got a little pudge right here.
02:00I'm trying to work out.
02:00We all do, brother.
02:01We're coming out of winter.
02:02All right, all right.
02:03I thought it was the dad bod, but in fact, if we all got it, then I feel okay about
02:08that.
02:08But let's go back to Jalen Brown because, you know, you've seen guys like Trey Young, Tyrese Halliburton.
02:13They've become true villains of the Knicks franchise and fan base.
02:18Jalen Brown's been chirping a little bit ahead of Thursday's matchup.
02:22Is Jalen Brown considered a villain?
02:25Does he have that honor to be a Knicks villain just yet?
02:29No, I don't think so.
02:31Not yet.
02:31You earn your true villainry in the playoffs.
02:35That's when you earn it, when you make those moments where more is on the line.
02:39I think a lot of what Jalen Brown is steeped in his own reality, and he really is speaking his
02:46own truth.
02:46I don't take it as shots.
02:48Like, if you watch the way Jalen Brown converses, he's keeping it real.
02:53And I think Knicks fans can appreciate that, and you've got to appreciate what he's doing on the court 29
02:58-6-5 on the year and creeping into that MVP talk.
03:02But I don't even think he really needs to be that villain because he plays for the Celtics.
03:08This is pure, unadulterated villainy.
03:11You know what I mean?
03:11Like, this is New York versus Boston.
03:14The minute you put on that Celtics jersey, you're an auto villain.
03:17But I think if he wants to, if he truly wants that, which I don't know if he's encouraging it
03:23or he really wants to adopt that because that is a great responsibility that you probably need to understand as
03:30a player before you become the anti-hero to a whole other fan base.
03:38But, yeah, I don't know.
03:40I don't think he's getting there yet.
03:41And, I mean, last year the Celtics lost to the Knicks, so he's already got one behind him.
03:48You know what I mean?
03:49Plus, he cut the cornrows.
03:51You kept yours.
03:52You the real one out of the two.
03:54Let's be honest.
03:56Let's talk about some of the on-the-court stuff that we're seeing from this team, man, because I feel
04:00like, you know, Monday night, that win against the Hawks,
04:03that whole Jalen Brunson, Carl Anthony Towns two-game, two-man game was on absolute fire.
04:10And I can't really think of a recent game that they've looked that in sync offensively together.
04:15So you feel like this two-man game between JB and Cat will unlock a deep postseason run.
04:23And you feel like that was the final piece to Mike Brown's offense finally coming together.
04:28Yeah, I think this felt like they were hiding it.
04:32Like, they almost knew that it worked, but they didn't want to expose it completely or show all their cards
04:39until now.
04:40You look at the Cat-JB pick-and-roll, it can be one of the deadliest combinations in the league.
04:47You see Cat being used as an offensive hub, Brunson moving off-ball, cutting, and then you get into a
04:54catch-22 for the defense,
04:55and it's really a matter of pick-your-poison and the way that Cat can spread the defense around with
05:01the shooters around him.
05:03Using that two-man pick-and-roll game is going to be integral to the Knicks making that postseason run.
05:08But to me, the even larger key is figuring out your consistency, and it starts with that starting lineup.
05:15We have over two years of data that says that at best, they are breaking even.
05:20Not even breaking even, they might be, depending on what site you use, they're either barely over a tenth of
05:29a point, or they're under.
05:30So I think with the lineup combinations, especially what Mike Brown has unlocked with using three guard rotations, two big
05:37rotations,
05:38and he has all the pieces, multiple different combinations have been effective.
05:43They just need this starting lineup to, at worst, be able to break even.
05:47Because if they are winning their minutes, then I think you can prepare for the parade.
05:52Because that has been one of their biggest bugaboos over this current run.
05:56And if they are able to remain consistent, start off game strong, and not go 10, 11, 12 points in
06:04the hole,
06:04and give away points, and have to come from behind in every single game, because they dealt with that last
06:10year too.
06:11If they're able to start strong and win their minutes as the starters, I think everything else will fall into
06:16place.
06:17Jeff, you said the P word, man.
06:19You feeling good about this Knicks team.
06:21You said parade.
06:22You know what parade is?
06:23Yeah, if they fulfill the qualifications that I said, yeah, I don't see another team.
06:30It would be very difficult to beat this team if they're clicking on all cylinders.
06:34All right, well, let's look at the Eastern Conference as it stands right now.
06:38Three games left into the regular season.
06:40You got the Knicks in third, two and a half games behind the Celtics.
06:43They own the tiebreaker in terms of the Knicks.
06:46Again, they played Thursday night.
06:48They're one game ahead of the Cavs.
06:50The Knicks own that tiebreaker as well.
06:52Then you got the Raptors, the 76ers, the Hornets, and the Magic, all within a half a game of each
06:58other for spots six through nine.
07:01So two-part question.
07:02What's your Eastern Conference playoff seeding looking like?
07:06And then out of those teams fighting for the six through nine spots,
07:10who do you think would be the toughest matchup for the Knicks?
07:14Yeah, so first off with the seed, and I think it's ultimately going to stay where it is.
07:18I think, you know, Detroit's all, but they've locked up the one seed.
07:21I think Boston will end up winning the two seed and locking that up.
07:25Knicks at three, Cavs at four.
07:27Then I do think that the Hawks are going to remain in that fifth seed.
07:30Toronto with the sixth.
07:33Philly and Charlotte are who I have coming out of the play-in at seven and eight respectively.
07:37So if that seeding remains where I have it, you're going to have one of the best Eastern Conference first
07:45-round matchups
07:46and probably one of the best NBA playoff matchups by conference that we've had in a very long time.
07:52Super competitive teams, a lot of regional rivalries, and a lot at stake.
07:58So I think the top four seeds, unlike prior years, you're not trying to maneuver yourself to try to get
08:07a favorable matchup
08:08because one, you don't know who you're going to face.
08:10And two, depending on how the matchups fall, you could either be in a good way or you're going to
08:17be in a dogfight.
08:19So I'm super hyped to see where that falls.
08:23Lastly, before I let you go, man, if the Knicks don't make a run, and I'm talking if the Knicks
08:29don't make it to the finals,
08:31do they make a run at Giannis over the summer?
08:35Oh, God, we get the G word.
08:37You talk about the P word.
08:38Now you're giving me the G word with Giannis.
08:40I think depending on how this season plays out, all options are on the table.
08:47If you get, and there's a lot of teams, there's a lot of teams, Brandon, that are on that clock.
08:53You look at Cleveland.
08:55If they don't get out of the first round or the semis, what do you do with that four?
09:01After that core four, now that Harden's added to it.
09:03What do you do?
09:04Do you go make another run or do you make another move?
09:07Because they've been together for a few years.
09:09There's a few teams that are in that boat.
09:11But I do think with the Knicks, if they have a disappointing postseason, I wouldn't feel comfortable if I was
09:19anybody but Jalen Brunson on that team.
09:21They're going to have to make some shakeups.
09:24There's going to be some changes.
09:26I don't know if it's going to be major, but depending on how they go out, I think you'll see
09:33whether or not they make that run for Giannis.
09:35But I will say, if they do make that run, I wouldn't expect them to give up the farm or
09:40to severely deplete their team in order to get them.
09:43I think they've learned from the mistakes of past.
09:45And this regime currently with Leon Rose, they've shown that they're pretty shrewd in the way they make their moves.
09:52It's a lot of give and take, but I don't think they're going to take three steps back to only
09:57get two steps forward.
09:59All right.
10:00Jeff Johnson, appreciate you hopping on with this, man.
10:03Thank you, man.
10:04I appreciate you.
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