00:00But there's one guy you can blame for the New York Knicks losing game three last night
00:05to the Atlanta Hawks, and it's Mikael Bridges.
00:09Mikael Bridges, rightfully so, got benched last night.
00:13Why?
00:13Because in the last six quarters, that meaning the entire game last night and the second
00:19half of game two at Madison Square Garden, Mikael Bridges has a grand total of zero points.
00:27Zero points.
00:28Mikael Bridges, all right, six quarters, 0 for 7 from the field, one rebound, two assists,
00:37and four turnovers.
00:39He has more turnovers in the last six quarters than he has points, rebounds, and assists combined.
00:46So yell and scream all you want about Jalen Brunson, and I'm with you to a point.
00:51Hero ball, isolation, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble.
00:56But he is not the cause or reason for the Knicks trailing the entire game last night.
01:03Then they got a lead late, and they blew that lead because somehow, some way, the New York Knicks
01:09have turned C.J. McCollum into Dwayne Wade.
01:13I don't understand it.
01:14I couldn't have predicted it.
01:16But this is not entirely a Jalen Brunson problem.
01:20Yeah, but I think you're letting him off the hook because he's a star player.
01:23But you're not holding him to a star player accountability.
01:27For this reason, this is what I mean.
01:29Everything you said was factual about Bridges.
01:33He's a complimentary player and—
01:35Gave him five first-round draft picks together.
01:37Yes.
01:38And to do that for a complimentary player was never smart.
01:42Zero points?
01:43But McBride yesterday, in the whole factor of the game, did everything you want him to do.
01:48You still got enough production.
01:49McBride made clutch shots.
01:50Right.
01:50You got enough production total.
01:52What you needed last night was for your star player to get you over the hump.
01:57And my issue with Brunson, it has always been—
02:00Remember, Villanova kid, I know a lot of people are close to him.
02:02Like, for real.
02:03I'm not joking about that.
02:05My issue with him is he's, in a way, when it comes to being a star, he's like a quad
02:09-A guy.
02:10He's not a complimentary player.
02:12In fact, he's useless in that role because he doesn't do much without the ball.
02:16But if he's going to have the ball every possession, I can't have Craig Carton.
02:21I cannot have Knicks fans coming on today not blaming him when he touches in every possession.
02:28Four assists, three turnovers, he touches in every possession.
02:31He takes blame, for sure.
02:33He has to take the most.
02:34But he's not the number one reason.
02:36He is.
02:37If you want to make the argument—
02:38Say it when they win.
02:39If you want to make that argument for Game 2, I accept that it's a better argument for Game 2.
02:44Not last night.
02:46Because last night, you can't get a donut out of Mikael Bridges when—and look, the Knicks
02:52threw up 9-6, didn't lead again until about, what, a minute or so left, when they took that
02:56three-point lead, right?
02:57Right.
02:58They take the three-point lead.
02:59They let a second-chance hoop go in.
03:01And then CJ McCullen beats OG off the dribble.
03:05OG kind of got their laners off a switch and gets his hand up a little bit late.
03:08And to give McCullen credit, the guy's got ice water in his veins now, and he's the best
03:13clutch player in basketball today.
03:15At this moment.
03:16Obviously, not in the quarter of the season.
03:17I mean, he's getting whatever shots he wants late in game.
03:19And by the way, he shot like crap last night for the majority of the game.
03:21But late in the game.
03:22But in crunch time, McCullen was money.
03:25And I'm watching the game last night, and I keep saying to myself, when did we turn 35-year-old
03:31CJ McCullum into the second coming of Dwayne Wade?
03:34Like, I don't understand how that happens.
03:36Because the Knicks can't buy a big bucket.
03:39McBride had a couple.
03:40Yes, of course.
03:41They did come all the way back from down 18.
03:43They did take a lead by three with under a minute to go.
03:47But you're telling me that we don't have an answer for CJ effing McCullum?
03:53And all due respect to CJ McCullum, has resurrected his career in this series three games in.
04:00But I will tell you this.
04:02The New York Knicks are still the better team.
04:04And I still believe, although not as much, that the New York Knicks will win game four
04:09Saturday night.
04:11I agree with that.
04:12And will come back home, win game five at the Garden.
04:15All right?
04:15Take a 3-2 series lead.
04:18And then you roll the dice.
04:20All right?
04:20No.
04:21This team cannot lose in the first round of the playoffs to Quinn Snyder and the Atlanta
04:28freaking Hawks.
04:29I'll go with you there.
04:31And Quinn Snyder, if you want to beat Matthew McConaughey, just call him up and tell him.
04:36Now you hating on him?
04:38Yeah.
04:38He's slicking back his hair.
04:39He does his hair the same way.
04:40He makes it all sloppy with the product and stuff.
04:42But I can't.
04:43If Quinn Snyder says after a game four, all right, all right, all right, someone's getting
04:48punched in the mouth.
04:49Oh, that's fine.
04:51But I still, there's the other thing that bothers me about the Brunson thing.
04:55Yeah.
04:55Your best five last night were basically you swap out Bridges and you put it, uh.
04:59Cat had a good game.
05:01Yeah, Cat had a good game.
05:02He had like 17 rebounds.
05:03But also, Mitchell Robinson has become completely unplayable.
05:06And I also blame Brunson for that.
05:08That's Mike Brown.
05:09He doesn't touch the ball, though.
05:10Well, here's the problem.
05:11That's Brunson.
05:11So here's the problem.
05:12That's Brunson.
05:13Mike Brown doesn't think, and I can't say he's right or wrong because we haven't seen
05:16it, that Mitchell Robinson and Carl Anthony Towns cannot be in the court at the same
05:20time.
05:20Probably not against this matchup.
05:21But it is a tough matchup.
05:22So, because we went cat heavy, which I thought we should have, I totally agreed with that.
05:27And I thought Carl Anthony Towns answered the bell last night.
05:30What do you have?
05:3021 and 17, I think.
05:3222 and 17.
05:33Yep.
05:3322 and 17.
05:34But late the game, he didn't touch the ball.
05:36Right.
05:36And that's been a problem in the series.
05:38Bridges.
05:38But Mitchell Robinson played 11 total minutes in this game.
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