Getty Precious Achiuwa #5 of the New York Knicks dribbles against Paolo Banchero #5 of the Orlando Magic.
Shaquille O’Neal dismissed that the potential New York Knicks-Orlando Magic first-round matchup in the NBA Playoffs will be the most fun series.
“No, no because Orlando is going to sweep them,” O’Neal boldly claimed on “Inside the NBA” postgame show on April 2 following the Knicks’ 109-99 loss to the Miami Heat, their third straight loss.
“Orlando wins that series,” O’Neal repeatedly said when ex-Knicks guard Jamal Crawford tried to wager a friendly bet.
The Magic are on track to gain a homecourt edge with a half-game lead over the Knicks for the fourth seed and hold the series tie-breaker with less than two weeks left in the regular season.
The Knicks also suffered a major blow after losing three-time All-Star Julius Randle to a season-ending surgery on Thursday, April 4, after two months of rehabbing his dislocated shoulder in a futile attempt to return this season.
Orlando has won four of their last five meetings. New York won the last one emphatically 98-74 on March 8 despite playing without Randle, OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson.
The Knicks have the experience. They trounced the Cleveland Cavaliers, an upstart team like the Magic this season, last playoffs in five games. But what gives O’Neal confidence about his pick is the Knicks are limping to the postseason.
Aside from missing Randle, the Knicks are also in danger of not having Anunoby, the 3-and-D star seamlessly fit when they acquired him midseason from Toronto.
Anunoby has yet to return after suffering inflammation in his surgically repaired elbow. Robinson is still ramping up his conditioning with only seven games left before the playoffs.
Josh Hart, who is averaging 41 minutes since Randle went out, is nursing a sprained right wrist.
Knicks Playoff Chances Hinges on Jalen Brunson
The fear is the Knicks will be too gassed and shorthanded when the playoffs arrive. However, they still have their best player.
Jalen Brunson is no stranger to carrying a team on his back.
He’s done it before in Dallas when Luka Doncic was out at the beginning of their Western Conference Finals run in 2022. He also nearly single-handedly carried the Knicks against the eventual Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat in the second round last year but fell short in six games.
Brunson is averaging a career-high 27.8 points and 6.6 assists this season. But he will need all the help he can get from the likes of Donte DiVincenzo, who’s had seven 30-point games this season after having none in his first five seasons in the NBA, Hart, Isaiah Hartenstein, Robinson, Precious Achiuwa and Miles McBride.
Erik Spoelstra Gives Jalen Brunson His Flowers
Brunson’s stellar second season in New York has kept the Knicks afloat even without three of their starters.
That wasn’t lost on Miami coach Erik Spoelstra, who raved about Brunson’s “complete package.”
“He’s having an MVP-type season,” Spoelstra told reporters, per New York Post. “He’s at that level right now where you’re not taking things away from him.”
He noted that it’s more difficult now to contain Brunson because the Knicks have surrounded him with shooters.
“Great players force you to bring a second defender and sometimes a third defender and then you have to scramble and make things up from there,” Spoelstra told reporters after the Heat survived the Knicks’ fourth-quarter rally in their April 2 win. “But he’s that good right now.
His footwork and his cleverness, his aggressiveness playing against your aggressiveness, the entire package just makes it extremely challenging. You just have to be absolutely rock solid and disciplined and sometimes he’s going to make shots even when you do that.”