As we've seen this season and in the playoffs, the Knicks too often require a kick in the behind when they struggle against the top teams.

Teams trailing by 9 or more points in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime had a combined record of 0-1,414 in the playoffs since 1998. The Knicks just became the footnote to that infamous stat, marking the first time such a lead was squandered in over a quarter-century of postseason basketball.

In a disaster of epic proportions, the Knicks squandered a 17-point fourth-quarter lead in Game 1 and are the first team in NBA playoff history to blow a lead of 14 or more points with 2:45 remaining. Teams were previously 994-0 in the playoffs, but the Knicks’ collapse didn’t come from nowhere.