Since Draymond Green put the Knicks’ Cinderella story to bed by deeming their playoff run a mere “fluke” he has been facing the wrath of the Knicks’ faithful on every platform. And tonight, while Draymond worked the analyst role on Inside The NBA, comedian Tracy Morgan gave another stern message to the Warriors star, “Don’t talk cr*p about my team. This is New York City kid.” But the legend’s warning, although in lighthearted fun, did not do much to stop Draymond as he continued to criticize Tom Thibodeau’s ways of handling the Knicks in these playoffs.

Living by his reputation of overworking his starters, Coach Thibs has already made Josh Hart play four complete games without subbing him out in the last ten playoff games. And believing that TT’s strategy is “absolutely crazy”, Dray said, “Running these guys into the ground, it ain’t gonna be the answer either. Eventually, that’s gonna catch up to them.” Adding more weight to his point, he claimed that it sounds good on paper when players play the entire game and their team wins, but Hart and the other starters are fairly young with their entire careers ahead of them.

And this strategy might hurt them in the long run. Moreover, it might be hurting them right now, in the series against Indiana as Donte, Hart, and Brunson’s productivity has gradually decreased in the last four games as their points total has dropped from ninety-two in the first game to just twenty-seven in the last game. While the Knicks fans continue to slam Draymond Green, he claimed that he just “told the truth about the team.”

The Knicks respond to Draymond Green with a 30-point blowout

“No quit, all grit, close-knit”- With this new motto written outside their locker room and many people writing them out after the last two losses, the Knicks came into MSG tonight and took care of business. While Tracy Morgan defended his team’s integrity on the mic, Jalen Brunson’s squad did the same with their performance on the court. They took advantage of the Pacers’ 1-4 record on the road in these playoffs and handed them their third straight loss at MSG.

Jalen Brunson, after struggling in the last game and finishing with just eighteen points, had a monster comeback tonight and scored forty-four points in the win, his fifth 40+ game in these playoffs. Even Josh Hart fixed the issues he had in game four and came in tonight with much better energy, adding eighteen points to his team’s score. Moreover, with OG Anunoby out yet again due to his hamstring injury, his replacement Alec Burks put up a great performance and helped the Knicks take a lead in the series. Scoring eighteen points tonight, Burks took a lot of scoring pressure off Brunson.

Yes, there is a chance that Thibodeau might be overexerting his players to win now. But his strategy has been working so far and he proved it tonight as the Knicks blew the Pacers out by thirty points!

So, although Draymond Green might have a point about Coach Thibs’ strategy being a little overboard, the Knicks might not mind it as long as it produces results. And now that they are only one win away from reaching the Conference Finals, that strategy is unlikely to change anytime soon.