Charles Barkley makes peculiar Knicks-Celtics take after game 2

Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal believe that despite their 2-0 lead, the onus is on the Knicks to win game 3 against the Boston Celtics.

Charles Barkley makes peculiar Knicks-Celtics take after game 2

Charles Barkley

Charles Barkley challenged the Boston Celtics to change their offensive approach after a disastrous game 1 outing in which the team made just 15 of its 60 3-point attempts. The Celtics appeared ready to change focus during game 2, getting a lot more shots from within the 3-point line. However, the result didn’t change for Boston as the team blew its second straight game with a 20-point lead.

Barkley was especially critical of the Celtics for taking 60 3-pointers and setting an NBA record for misses. His pet peeve was sorted by Boston, who only took 40 3-pointers in game 2. However, their conversion rate stayed at 25% for the second straight game. Jayson Tatum had perhaps the worst playoff outing of his career as he scored a paltry 13 points off 19 field goal attempts.

The Knicks clearly have a winning offensive strategy of forcing offensive rebounds with Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart. This strategy has been proven to be viable during both games in which the team made comebacks. However, according to Barkley, the Knicks have to stay focused and not get complacent. He believes that game 3 is as much of a must-win for them as it is for Boston.

TNT co-panelist Shaquille O’Neal raised this topic at the end of their segment on May 7th. Barkley chimed in with his own experiences.

He (Shaquille O’Neal) is 100% correct. I’m one of the few people in the world who have been in this situation twice. We played the Lakers when we were the no. 1 seed in the West. We lost the first two games at home in a five-game series. And I remember telling guys, ‘All we gotta do is get the first one, cuz then the pressure switches back to them.’ But also with Kenny (Smith), when we won the first two games in Houston, I remember telling the guys – we cannot go back to Houston 2-2.

Charles Barkley said

Barkley even admitted that what he said could ‘sound stupid’. But he believes that since the Celtics are the better team/roster, they can get back in the series with wins at Madison Square Garden.

Game 3 is a must-win – this is gonna sound stupid – game 3 is a must-win for the Knicks. Because Boston’s got a better team, they’ve been up 20. But I’m telling, I’ve been in that situation twice. You’ve gotta win that third game. And I knew, I still thought we were gonna win the series, when we lost game 3, but it actually flips the mental picture.

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Charles Barkley had picked the Boston Celtics to win both of these games after coming up on the FanDuel commercial. After they squandered their significant advantages in both games, Barkley kept harping on their 3-pointer-heavy offense. He acknowledged that they’d won the championship last year with these tactics. He also warned the Knicks to be wary of the turnaround from Boston.

The one thing that would scare me – they live and die by them threes, they’ve had two awful games. But Jaylen Brown changed up a little bit and started going to the basket. But you never know when those threes are gonna click in. You never know.

Charles Barkley said

Like Barkley, Paul Pierce has also had to eat humble pie for his confidence in the Celtics. But these analysts have backed the reigning NBA champions for a reason. From top to bottom, and with Porzingis available, the Celtics still have the best rotation in the league. They can make runs against any team at any point in the game. The rest of the series will be a fascinating watch due to this.

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