The New York Knicks defeated the Boston Celtics, who had the best record in the NBA, 118-109 on Thursday in a
game that had a closer score than it actually was.
Despite starting with their usual lineup, Boston looked uninspired and trailed by 21 points at the break. Before the
Celtics’ bench began to cut into New York’s lead in the final minutes of the game, the Knicks had jumped out to a 31-
point lead in the third quarter.
Barkley told broadcaster Ernie Johnson, “If they are going to play like that, they shouldn’t play.”
Other than getting ready for the NBA playoffs’ opening round, the Celtics have little to gain from their game. They
locked up home-court advantage for the duration of the postseason in March when they won the Eastern
Conference’s top seed.
Barkley, nevertheless, sent a caution to Boston by recalling a similar scenario he had with the 1992–93 Phoenix
Suns, who ended the regular season with the best record in the NBA.
“We had the best record in the NBA, and we shut it down the last two weeks of the season,” Barkley stated. “It took
us two rounds of the playoffs to get it back.”
The Suns had a very slow start to their playoff journey, dropping the first two games of a first-round best-of-five
series against the Los Angeles Lakers. To get to the second round, Phoenix had to win three games in a row,
including the thrilling Game 5 victory in overtime, 112–104.
“I’ve always said to myself … I regret it to this day,” Barkley stated. “Dude, you play until the season is over. I get that
they will end up with the greatest record, but really, you can’t just turn it on and off.”
Of course, Barkley’s only NBA Finals appearance with the 1992–93 Suns ended in a six-game loss to the Chicago
Bulls. After losing in 2022, the Celtics of 2023–24 hope to return to the grandest stage of basketball.
