{"id":574755,"date":"2026-04-09T22:45:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/574755\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T22:45:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:45:08","slug":"why-kendrick-perkins-thinks-knicks-need-win-over-celtics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/574755\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Kendrick Perkins Thinks Knicks ‘Need’ Win Over Celtics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why Kendrick Perkins Thinks Knicks ‘Need’ Win Over Celtics<\/a> originally appeared on NESN<\/a>. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kendrick Perkins put all the pressure on the New York Knicks entering Thursday’s showdown against the Boston Celtics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

The Celtics can clinch the Atlantic division and Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed with a victory at Madison Square Garden, but the former champion feels the Knicks have more at stake. Perkins laughed when asked which team needs a win more on ESPN’s “NBA Today.”<\/a><\/p>\n

“It’s the Knicks,” Perkins said. “The Knicks need this win like I need my diabetic shot every week. That’s how bad they need this win in the worst way.”<\/p>\n

Perkins claimed the Knicks still must prove they’re a real championship contender by beating a top-tier squad like the Celtics. As Perkins spoke, an ESPN graphic noted that New York lost to the Charlotte Hornets, Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets by an average margin of 13 points before collecting three straight wins over the Memphis Grizzlies, Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks.<\/p>\n

“Over the last six or seven weeks, they haven’t had a real statement win to let the world know they’re a real, legitimate threat in the Eastern Conference,” Perkins claimed. “You’re going against the team that’s favored to win the East in the Boston Celtics. You want to come out at home tonight and make a statement, and you want to have a feel-good moment, especially on the defensive end.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

“You want to build some type of continuity, some type of togetherness, to let the world know and to let your own self know that you’re on the same page.”<\/p>\n

The Knicks have some notable victories over Western Conference contenders during that timeframe, defeating the San Antonio Spurs on March 1 and annihilating the Denver Nuggets five days later. They’re 2-1 against the Celtics (all before Jayson Tatum’s return) and Cleveland Cavaliers, but 0-3 versus the top-seeded Detroit Pistons.<\/p>\n

Narratives aside, a loss could hurt New York’s playoff path more than Boston’s. The Knicks lead the Cavaliers by a half-game for the East’s No. 3 seed, and the Celtics have a three-game cushion over the Knicks with three games remaining.<\/p>\n

Thursday’s marquee matchup tips off at 7:30 p.m. ET<\/a> on Prime Video.<\/p>\n

More NBA:\u00a0Celtics’ Derrick White Can Make NBA History By Reaching This Benchmark<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Why Kendrick Perkins Thinks Knicks ‘Need’ Win Over Celtics originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574756,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[6417,2242,11949,7329,8174,1753,4576,32707,5050,5488,36975,15050,7741,355,361,6402,2116,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-574755","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-atlanta-hawks","9":"tag-boston-celtics","10":"tag-charlotte-hornets","11":"tag-chicago-bulls","12":"tag-cleveland-cavaliers","13":"tag-denver-nuggets","14":"tag-detroit-pistons","15":"tag-eastern-conference","16":"tag-houston-rockets","17":"tag-jayson-tatum","18":"tag-kendrick-perkins","19":"tag-madison-square-garden","20":"tag-memphis-grizzlies","21":"tag-nba","22":"tag-new-york-knicks","23":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","24":"tag-san-antonio-spurs","25":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}