Patriots Legend Trolls Knicks After Game 4 Loss to Pacers

The New York Knicks are on the brink of postseason elimination. On Tuesday, May 27, they lost their third game of the Eastern Conference Finals to the Indiana Pacers. Tyrese Haliburton‘s breathtaking triple-double left Tom Thibodeau’s team with a mountain to climb.

Shortly after New York’s latest loss, New England Patriots legend Rob Gronkowski took to X to poke fun at the Knicks and the fanbase.

“Knicks fans still celebrating like they won the championship after game 3??,” Gronkowski posted.

https://x.com/RobGronkowski/status/1927567454152065391

Gronkowski’s post is referencing Knicks fans intense celebrations after winning their first game of the series. It’s also building on how Knicks fans responded after defeating an injury-hobbled Boston Celtics team in the second round.

Still, Knicks fans are unlikely to be pleased with the light-hearted jab. Their team has looked devoid of answers throughout the series against Indiana. Rick Carlise’s roster is playing with speed, physicality and poise, and have been consistently finding ways to break down the Knicks half-court defense.

Indiana now controls its own destiny. New York must win the next three games to qualify for the NBA Finals. As such, it’s likely that the Knicks’ season is drawing to a close.

Knicks’ Tom Thibodeau Calls Out Teams’ Turnovers

When playing the Pacers, the most important thing you can do is take care of the ball. Indiana is too good in the open court, especially when attacking off errant passes or silly mistakes. Unfortunately for the Knicks, that memo seems to still be lost in translation, as they turned the rock over 17 times. The Pacers scored 20 points off those mistakes.

During his postgame news conference, Thibodeau rued his team’s mistakes and blasé approach to controlling the rock.

“It was probably a compilation of things. You had the first quarter, it was problematic,” Thibodeau said. “That set the tone for the game, giving up 43 points, and then we turn it over against them, particularly the live ball turnovers, you’re the fueling transition game…You’re not going to get perfection, but strive for it. Fight for every possession that matters. You don’t know which possession makes the difference between winning and losing in the end. But each possession is critical. And at the end, you obviously want to make more winning plays than they do, and we haven’t done that.”

The Knicks must clean up some of their mistakes if they’re going to have any chance of clawing their way back into the series.

Karl-Antony Towns Remains Optimistic

When speaking to the media following the Knicks’ loss, Karl-Anthony Towns remained optimistic about his team’s chances of success.

“We’ve been a team that has kind of found a way to do the impossible when it always seemed impossible,” Towns said. “We just keep fighting. It’s gonna be a testament to our whole playoff run. Now we have to be in one of the biggest fights of our lives and of our season.”

Game five will be back on the Knicks’ home floor. As such, Thibodeau’s team will have the added motivation of keeping the series alive in front of their hometown fans. After all, Knicks fans deserve more than seeing their season come to an end in Madison Square Garden. And if the Knicks can force a game six, their confidence in making an unlikely comeback will only continue to grow.