"Can't wait" Stephen A. wants Cavaliers face the Knicks in the playoffs

We got a good one last night between the Cavs and the Nets. Isaac Okoro hit a three-pointer with 0.7 seconds remaining as Cleveland beat Brooklyn 1-16 to 1-14 and closed in on their first playoff berth since 2018. Okoro finished with 11 points while Donovan Mitchell added 31 and Evan Mobley had 26 and 16. Meanwhile, the Knicks lost a tough one to Palo Bencaro and the Orlando Magic. Quentin Grimes and Emmanuel quickly scored 25 points each for New York. Julius Randle put up 23 points and nine rebounds but Bencaro's late game heroics helped the Magic to the 1-11 to 1-06 win. Now the Knicks were creeping in on the Cavs trying to take the fourth seed but have allowed opponents to shoot 55 percent from the field and 51 on three-point lines or from the three-point line during their current three-game losing streak. The Knicks lead the season series versus Cleveland 2-1 with one last regular season matchup still looming. Now we have Kendrick Perkins with us. Perk, I'm going to start with you. Who has the higher ceiling out of the Cavs and the Knicks? You know, I'm raised in Texas, Christine, but I'm adopted in New York right now, especially this season. And New York stand up. Orange and blue skies. I'm rolling with them. They have the higher ceiling because guess what? They're going to see the Cavs in the first round. I strongly believe that. And if they match up, when they match up, I got the Knicks winning. So they have the higher ceiling. When I look at the Knicks and I look at their starting five, I love what I'm seeing out of Julius Randle, Jalen Bronson. If we could get Miltral Robertson to buy in, which I know he will come postseason time. R.J. Barrett has been playing some okay basketball. I feel like he will elevate his game. But it's the bench for the New York Knicks, especially hard and quickly. Those two coming in bring some type of life that could match up with any team in the Eastern Conference, especially the Cleveland Cavaliers. So when I look at the Knicks and they have an identity, and yes, I know they've been in the slump the last week or so or whatever the case may be, but they have an opportunity to regroup because I believe they're off three or four days. Tom Thibodeau is going to get them back into the film room. They will get back to that identity on the defensive end. They will get back to sharing the ball and playing at an up-tempo pace on the offensive end. I have the Knicks going further in the playoffs than the Cleveland Cavaliers because they're going to match up with them in the first rounds, and I got the Knicks winning that first-round series. Well, I hope you're right, and I wouldn't bet against the Knicks, but that's simply because I'm a diehard New York Knicks fan. I'm a lifelong New Yorker. It's strictly emotion. When I think about basketball come playoff time, I think that you have coaches who are very, very smart. They're very knowledgeable about what the other is going to do. I think you have players that are familiar with one another. They're very familiar with what the other is going to do, and it comes down to do you have people that you can give the ball to and say, take me there, and the reality of the situation is I believe, regardless of what I've seen from Julius Randle this year, which, by the way, has been phenomenal, I want to give him major props. I got him on my all-NBA team, Kendrick Perkins, and I'm going to tell you why. The number one reason, the brother doesn't miss work. He shows up every damn game. This dude ain't miss a game. I got a lot of love for Julius Randle, and we know how I feel about Jalen Brunson, but damn it, I don't feel the way about them the way I feel about Donovan Mitchell, averaging 27 a game, by the way, doing everything I said he was going to do, which is why he should have been in a New York Knicks uniform. Don't get me started with that. This is the kind of stuff, and that's why I try not to talk about it, because I'm only going to get upset, Kendrick Perkins, and let me tell you something right now. Speaking about this subject, it's not just about Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. It's about the fact that Cleveland got the top defense in the NBA. We can't ignore that. It's as big time as the Knicks defense can be. Cleveland's defense is something to be reckoned with. Let's remember that, but this is the problem that I have with you, man. This is what I got with Kendrick Perkins. You sit up there, and you get on me every chance you get, because you know this hurts me, man. You know how I feel about my Knicks, and you know how badly I wanted Donovan Mitchell. You know this, Kendrick Perkins. You know I was clamoring for this. You know I kept saying, yo, yo, you need a star. You got to give up Grimes. Give him up. You got to give up RJ Barrett. Give him up, okay? I ain't saying give up all eight to 11 picks over the next decade, but if you had to give up five, damn it, so be it. You need a star at the Garden, okay? I'm not talking about an all-star. That's Julius Randle. I'm not talking about a should-be all-star, which is Jalen Brunson, because he got robbed. I'm talking about a bona fide star, something that's a tier below superstar status, but definitely is above all-star status, a bona fide legit star. That is Donovan Mitchell, and I got to tell you something. Again, I would go with the Knicks because it's emotion, and I ain't going, I ain't picking against them, but I would tell you, when you talk about a ceiling, give me the star, and a star that is surrounded by defense. You give me that, and I'm going to tell you that that team has a higher ceiling. Well, Steven, let me say this. I love the Cleveland Cavaliers. I strongly believe that Evan Mobley, his future is bright. He will be a superstar in this game. I believe that Donovan Mitchell is one of the best, yes, a superstar. He has the potential of being the superstar, okay, in this game. Not now, but in the near future, and I believe that Donovan Mitchell is arguably the best shooting guard in today's game. Again, I'm going to the others. Karris LaVert, I had high expectations for him. He's been in and out of the lineup. The bigger staff hasn't been pleased with his play. He hasn't been consistent enough. I haven't seen enough of him, so when I look at their bench, and I look at the Knicks bench, again, I talked about Hart, and I talked about quickly, and we could dive into guys like OB Toppin, who I believe if Tibbs give him more minutes, he will be able to come out and show a little bit more, but think about this for a second, Steven A. You have Derrick Rose and Evan Fournier that don't even see the floor. They don't even see the floor, so I look at the pace that the Cleveland Cavaliers play with, because some may think, oh, they're a fast-paced type team. They play up-tempo, but really, they don't. When you look at the pace of their offense, they actually slow up the ball. They actually one of the league leaders in pace, so when I think about playing that style against the New York Knicks, who like to play at a slow pace or want a team to play at a slow pace, especially on the defensive end, then I like the Knicks' chances. I like Tom Tibbitt on chances. I like those chances of playing boxes and elbows, and remember this now. Jay LeBronson has experience. Jay LeBronson went to the Western Conference Finals last year as the Robin alongside Luka Doncic. Now, I'm not saying Julius Randle is Luka Doncic, but damn it, he's special. He did just have a 57 piece the other loss, and I just think it's not going to go anywhere. I think he's going to elevate his game even more come postseason. I suspect I got reservations about that. I got reservations about that because at the end of the day, when I say he's going left, I don't mean it literally, and I remember JJ Redick brought that up weeks ago. I'm fully aware of the fact that Julius Randle shoots better with his left going to his right. I'm fully aware of that. I just simply say that you know what? I need dudes that are ambidextrous. I need dudes that ain't dribbling between their legs five or six times before they launch shots, which is what Julius Randle is prone to do, and Tom Tibbitt was so enthralled with him because he shows up to work every night. Such a hard worker, so committed, and obviously produces. The fact of the matter is that's the ball he's going to put. That's the hands he's going to put the ball in instead of giving it to somebody like a Jay LeBronson, who I believe is a better decision maker, but at the end of the day, here's my point. If you have a seven-game series in the first round, that seventh game would be in Cleveland. I could easily see that being a seven-game series, and I understand that the Knicks can take their efforts on the road, and defensively, they'll show up as well, but when I think about Cleveland and how formidable they are on the defensive side of the ball, I think it's a tight-knit contest, and in close, tight-knit contests, it comes down to, do you have somebody that you can say, here's the ball, take me there, and I believe that dude is Donovan Mitchell over anybody in the Knicks' half. So are you telling the world right now on first tape that if they match up first round, you're going with the Cleveland Cavaliers? I'm not telling the world anything yet. I'm telling you because it depends on my emotional state of mind. It's the Knicks. Don't ask me about basketball. This is emotion. This is why I'm getting mad at you, Kendrick Perkins, because you know I am about the Knicks. Now, everything else, I'm very objective, but I'm not objective about the Knicks, and I'm not objective about the Yankees, okay? It's understood. It's understood. You haven't suffered. You were in Beaumont, Texas. You were preparing for the education of Kendrick Perkins for the world to see. You were winning championships in Boston and going to the finals. You were doing all of those things. You had the finals in Oklahoma City. You have not been in New York suffering for 50 years. That has not been you. Now, I'm telling you, I'm trying to be cool, okay? I'm just talking basketball right now, but when the playoff time comes, I'm going to be emotional, okay? Because, listen, I've said it before, and I'll say it again, and I'm going to say it for the last time. Damn it, I'm lying. Let me tell you something. The New York Knicks, I don't care what they've done this season. You can lose to Milwaukee. You can lose to Boston. You can lose to Philly. All of that's understandable and acceptable. Christine, Kendrick Perkins knows this. The New York Knicks cannot lose to Donovan Mitchell. Donovan Mitchell is who he was supposed to be in a New York Knicks uniform. His bags were packed. He was looking forward. He was excited. He wasn't thinking about no damn Cleveland. He wanted to be home in New York.