The New York Knicks’ season came to a screeching halt with another crushing playoff exit at the hands of the Indiana Pacers. For a team that made real noise in the regular season and punched above its weight early in the playoffs, the collapse in the Eastern Conference finals reopened old wounds.
But what does it really say about this team? That’s where Stephen A. Smith stepped in with a message Knicks fans didn’t expect but maybe needed to hear.
New York Knicks’ NBA Playoff Exit Against Pacers Reignites Debate Over Team’s Ceiling and Future
The Knicks fought, no doubt about it. After taking out the Celtics in a shocking six-game series, New York looked poised to finally break through to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. But the Pacers had other plans. Jalen Brunson couldn’t do it all, and as injuries piled up, the magic faded. Still, Smith’s perspective on ESPN’s “First Take” painted the season as something more than just a missed opportunity.
Smith didn’t sugarcoat it. “I think they overachieved,” he said on June 2. “When you get to within two games of an NBA Finals, they overachieved.”
“I think [the Knicks] overachieved… we didn’t expect them to be in the Conference Finals because we didn’t expect them to get past Boston, but they did that. … This year, they were supposed to be better and they weren’t.”
– Stephen A. Smithpic.twitter.com/XkKg6uH8Gx
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 2, 2025
That might come as a surprise to fans who started the season believing the Knicks had one of the most balanced starting fives in the league. But as Smith pointed out, that optimism didn’t last long once the games started. New York went 0-10 in the regular season against Cleveland, Boston, and Oklahoma City. Not exactly the kind of track record that screams championship contender.
As the playoffs approached, few expected them to get past Boston. “It was a foregone conclusion in all of our eyes that the New York Knicks were going home in the second round again,” Smith said. But then the Knicks stunned the Celtics by winning the first two games in Boston. That’s when the narrative flipped. “We said, wait a damn minute. They actually can win this series.”
It was a shocking turn, especially considering Jayson Tatum’s injury in Game 4. Still, the Knicks handled business and advanced, something almost no one predicted. That kind of resilience gave fans hope that something special might be happening. But the fall came quickly. Against Indiana, New York just didn’t have enough left in the tank.
And that’s where the disappointment sets in. “The problem is that they ended up losing to the same team this year that they lost to last year,” Smith said. “And this year they were supposed to be better, and they weren’t.”
Smith’s take isn’t just about expectations or results. It’s about the deeper frustration that Knicks fans live with year after year — promise without payoff. This team, though gritty and well-coached, wasn’t built to win it all. The next step is figuring out how to overcome the hump before this core peaks and fades, like so many others before it.
