The novelty of the playoffs has officially worn off for the New York Knicks. Their fairytale season now hangs in the balance, as an ugly 113-96 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday afternoon at State Farm Arena placed them in a forbidding 3-1 series hole.
And considering that the Knicks clinched the East's fourth seed as ambitious and unexpected overachievers, no one should be surprised by their recent string of poor performances, according to Fox Sports analyst Ric Bucher.
"Whatever you give [head coach Tom Thibodeau], that team during the regular season is going to reach its level. His teams generally don't underachieve, for the most part," Bucher told the Tiki and Tierney show on Monday. "But the playoffs are another level, and you've got to be able to expand your game. And I just saw what they were built on. The fact that the turn for the Knicks really was when they acquired Derrick Rose. That's when they really made a push and climbed up in the standings. And I just didn't know that with Derrick -- as much as he's remodeled his game -- that you can live off of that in the postseason against the teams you were going to have to play against.
"And looking at RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, there's a lot of guys on this team who are getting their first taste of playoff action. And RJ and Julius in particular -- their games, during the regular season -- you can get away with what they are... But when teams prepare for you in the playoffs, they're going to take away what you do best, and make you go to your B-game, C-game, and D-game. And I just felt that with both RJ and Julius, their games are not that hard to gameplan for and force them into doing things they're not necessarily comfortable doing. And I think, No. 1, that's what you've seen with the Knicks in the postseason.
"And let's face it: the Hawks are just loaded with talent, with athleticism. Their margin for error is greater. The Knicks just have to play such a buttoned-up game to win. They've done that once. But I feel as if it's going to be diminishing returns here, just because, once again, you're riding Derrick Rose so heavily... I know he says he feels great, but I just don't know that that's a recipe for long-term success for the Knicks."
Game 5 of the best-of-seven series will take place on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, with tipoff time yet to be announced. According to FiveThirtyEight's projections, the Knicks have just a 4-percent chance of advancing to the East semifinals, and in the history of the NBA, only 13 of 260 teams (5-percent) have ever rallied back from a 3-1 series deficit.
The entire NBA conversation between Bucher and Tiki and Tierney can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Tiki and Tierney Show on Twitter @TikiAndTierney and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.