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via Imago

via Imago

Once placed his faith in the New York Knicks, now Jason Crowe most likely regrets it. The Knicks not only lost their championship aspirations to the Pacers but also cost Crowe a bet he had placed against Paul Pierce. The 47-year-old would still have been saved, had Pierce not recalled the bet on a recent episode of the Truth Lounge Show. 

The recent episode flashed back to the time the bet was placed. “You got knicks closing out. I got Indiana extending the series. Let’s put 25 push-ups on Truth Lounge. That’s a bet. 25 pushups” Pierce had said. “Jalen Brunson, man. Come through for me, man,” Crowe wished for his win back then. Back to the recent episode, although Pierce asked for at least 3 push-ups to honor the bet, Crowe somehow managed 20 amid Pierce’s hilarious running commentary.    

Notably, the Knicks and Pacers series lived up to its rivalry hype as it went neck to neck. The Knicks gained an initial advantage of 2-0 in the series. But the Pacers, similar to the Knicks, maximized the home-court advantage and leveled the series by 2-2. In fact, until Game 6, none of the teams lost on their home court, bringing the series to 3-3. However, despite the Knicks playing at Madison Square Garden in Game 7, it was the Pacer who emerged victorious. 

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USA Today via Reuters

Now as the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks continue on the Western conference, Crowe is looking to reverse his previous fate. The series score at the time of the release of the podcast episode was 2-0 in Mavericks’ favor. But Crowe still believed it will be the Wolves who will emerge victorious in the series. However, the Mavs won Game 3 as well, and Minnesota now stands on the verge of a clean sweep. 

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What went wrong for the Minnesota Timberwolves?

There has been a lot of criticism around the Wolves gameplay ever since the conference finals commenced. However, the first two games in the series were hairbreadth, as the winning difference in the first two games was 3 points and 1 point, respectively.        

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In fact, the Wolves had the lead in Game 1 during the final two minutes, but two desperate 3-point attempts cost them the game. Similarly, the Wolves were up by 2 points in the last 47 seconds of Game 2 as well. But the turnover by Anthony Edwards let Luka Doncic take the game in his own hands, and a 3-point shot by him secured a 109-108 win for the Mavs.         

Meanwhile, Game 3 was even more devastating for the Wolves, putting them on the verge of a clean sweep. The experts have primarily held Rudy Gobert responsible for lacking at defense. And Karl Anthony Towns for attempting way too many 3-point shots and missing most of them. Now it’s to be seen if the Wolves can do what has never been done before — a comeback in the series after being down 3-0.