Stephen A. Smith was at Madison Square Garden to watch the New York Knicks fall to the Indiana Pacers 130-109 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals Sunday.
The ending was a heartbreaking one for Smith and all Knicks fans. After surviving season-ending injuries to multiple players, New York finally hit a wall.
The Knicks couldn’t overcome a record-setting shooting performance by the Pacers and one final personnel blow when star guard Jalen Brunson broke his hand in the second half.
As the loss was winding down, Smith summed up his thoughts on X/Twitter.
“After all these damn injuries already suffered, now I just heard Brunson fractured his thumb. Damn! Thanks for the season @nyknicks. There’s only but so much we can overcome,” he tweeted.
The Pacers shot a remarkable 53-of-79 from the floor, an NBA playoff record. They were also 13-of-24 from three-point range, as three players (Pascal Siakam, Andrew Nembhard and Tyrese Haliburton) scored 20 or more points.
Indiana now moves on to face the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Knicks, meanwhile, head into a critical offseason as the team tries to make the leap from playoff factor to legitimate NBA title contender.
New York has won a playoff series in each of the last two years but has not reached the Eastern Conference Finals since 2000 and last played in the NBA Finals one year before that.