The Knicks are not making brash claims anymore. J.R. Smith has silenced himself a bit since he boldly proclaimed that the Knicks’ series against the Celtics would be over if he had played in Game 4, and Kenyon Martin is not saying much of anything after telling his teammates to show up for Game 5 dressed in black for the Celtics’ funeral.
Once confident to the level of almost being arrogant, the Knicks sort of sound defeated now. Point guard Raymond Felton did not sound so cocky after the Celtics’ win in Game 5, which brought the series back to Boston for Game 6 on Friday.
“[J.R.] will be fine, everyone will be fine,” Felton said, according to ESPN.com. “Just get this over with.”
In order to “just get this over with,” the Knicks will have to win on Friday in their third straight chance to close out the Celtics. The Celtics will do everything in their power to keep the series going and come another step closer to becoming the first team in NBA history to come back to win a best-of-seven series after falling behind three games to none.
