ATLANTA — We are able to play phrase video games and break down the true which means of what a “must-win” recreation seems like. That’s a good topic for debate, if it’s a dialogue you actually need to have.
Within the literal sense, the Knicks don’t face a must-win Thursday night time at State Farm Area (and neither, for that matter, do the Hawks). This opening-round collection is not going to finish — and neither will the season — based mostly on the result of Sport 3. The earliest that may occur to both crew is Tuesday night time again in New York. And the vibe this collection is starting to provide suggests it’ll be just a few days after that.
However there’s a motive why Pat Riley all the time known as Sport 3 of a best-of-seven collection a “squeeze recreation.” That was an particularly favored time period of his when one in every of his groups cut up the primary two video games at house. It doesn’t take a surplus of creativeness to know what he meant by that.
And that’s the place the Knicks discover themselves coming into this recreation, a squeeze recreation that can be a must-win recreation; and in the event that they don’t suppose that approach … effectively, let’s clear up a preferred phrase of the day which may finest describe the implications awaiting on the opposite facet of Sport 3:
