"Knicks are going to fold" - Paul Pierce makes scathing claim about Jalen Brunson & Co.'s chances vs Pacers in ECF

The Boston Celtics failed to win the best-of-seven series against the New York Knicks to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. This resulted in the Knicks facing the Indiana Pacers in the third round of the postseason. And former Celtics star Paul Pierce has not moved on from his team's playoff elimination.

Boston tried its best against New York in the playoffs. However, the Celtics were never healthy: Center Kristaps Porzingis was never 100 percent due to illness while All-Star forward Jayson Tatum experienced a devastating Achilles injury. The defending champions were eliminated in six games because of the setbacks they had to endure.

On Tuesday's episode of Fox Sports's "Speak," Pierce had a surprising claim about the Knicks. The 2021 Hall of Famer predicts the New York team will fold once the series gets tougher for them.

"I think this is going to be a hard-fought series and when the tough get going, I'm gonna expect the New York Knicks to fold," Pierce said. "When the going gets tough, the Knicks are going to fold! That's what I expect."

His co-hosts were surprised by what he said. He doubled down on X (formerly Twitter) by posting a shrugging emoji, showing that he stands by his claims.

This isn't the first time that the Celtics star has been critical of Jalen Brunson and the rest of the New York team. As New York advanced to the next round, Pierce said that the team got lucky because of the injuries to Tatum and Porzingis.

“I say this every year in the playoffs. In order to win a title, you have to be good and lucky. If I had told you Boston’s gonna be up for their first two home games by 20, and they’re gonna lose both of them, you have to have a little luck on your side.”

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LeBron James said the Celtics duo got 'bored' and is the reason why they lost to the Knicks

Many predicted the defending champions would prevail against the Knicks in their second-round series. Unfortunately, they failed, ending their season.

LA Lakers star LeBron James offered a theory about why the Celtics lost. James suggested that Tatum and Jaylen Brown could've gotten 'bored' with their greatness.

The four-time champion talked about it on Tuesday's episode of his podcast with NBA legend Steve Nash, "Mind The Game."

Even Nash agreed with James's suggestion. The former Phoenix Suns star said that the small details of their play this year showed how they lost the series against New York.