ATLANTA — We can play word games and break down the real meaning of what a “must-win” game looks like. That’s a fair subject for debate, if it’s a discussion you really want to have.
In the literal sense, the Knicks don’t face a must-win Thursday night at State Farm Arena (and neither, for that matter, do the Hawks). This opening-round series will not end — and neither will the season — based on the outcome of Game 3. The earliest that can happen to either team is Tuesday night back in New York. And the vibe this series is beginning to give suggests it’ll be a few days after that.
But there’s a reason why Pat Riley always called Game 3 of a best-of-seven series a “squeeze game.” That was an especially favored term of his when one of his teams split the first two games at home. It doesn’t take a surplus of imagination to understand what he meant by that.
And that’s where the Knicks find themselves entering this game, a squeeze game that is also a must-win game; and if they don’t think that way … well, let’s clean up a popular phrase of the day that might best describe the consequences awaiting on the other side of Game 3:
