Al Trautwig Sounds Broken By Life

And I don't blame him. That was an awful, awful loss for the Knicks in Game 1.

Mike D'Antoni sounds pissed. I don't blame him either. Again, truly awful loss.

It's the same story we saw all season long in Knicks-Celtics games. The Knicks play the Celtics tough but can't close them out. Or maybe that construction doesn't give the Celtics enough credit -- they're a great team and they find ways to close out wins. That's what great teams do.

Anyway, in a series where the Knicks have to win one on the road, they really missed a golden opportunity to win one here tonight. Up 12 points at the half. Up 3 with 35 seconds left. The alley-oop to Kevin Garnett. The offensive foul by 'Melo on their second to last possession. Not going to Amar'e when he'd been so unstoppable in the second half.

Earl Monroe is talking about how this is the kind of game that gives a team confidence, even when it ends in defeat. I can see where that would be true. But I think when you couple it with the other four losses the Knicks have suffered against the Celtics, all hard-fought games, the real takeaway is that the Celtics just find a way to win games against the Knicks.

Now Amar'e is on. When asked what his emotions were before the game, Amar'e responded, "Domination." Not typically an emotion; big part of why I love Amar'e.

Side note: my DVR just messed up a bit, sending me back about 20 minutes in the Knicks postgame show. This reminded me of Walt "Clyde" Frazier, who looks and sounds almost comatose. Zombie Clyde needs to call it a night, as do I.

Ah well, it's a missed opportunity. They'll try again Tuesday, I guess.

- A.F.O.M.G.