Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks are currently preparing for their upcoming first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers, who earned the seventh seed by beating the Miami Heat on Wednesday night in an Eastern Conference play-in games. Meanwhile, the Knicks have played for most of this season despite dealing with a relatively insane amount of injuries, and Brunson has forced his way into fringe MVP contention by bringing with him a New York team that doesn’t have a lot of talent . card up to the second seed in the vaunted Eastern Conference playoff picture.
However, not everyone (including the good people of Las Vegas) is so convinced, as the Knicks are currently the betting underdogs in the series despite having home-court advantage, meaning the first two games, along with Race 5 and Game 7, will be at Madison Square Garden.
Recently, Stephen A. Smith, an ESPN sports media personality and casual Knicks fan, went on his show First Take to make a prediction for the series that will infuriate fans in New York.
“This is a different day, baby,” Smith said, per First Take on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter. “Let me tell you something now. The Sixers are falling apart… Now, I will confess to you openly that a significant part of the confidence I exude has a lot to do with Joel Embiid not being healthy… I have (the Knicks) in five.”