New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns seems to be echoing Kobe Bryant's famous "job's not finished" mantra with his remarks directly following Thursday's commanding win over the Cavaliers.
With their 109-93 triumph to take a 2-0 series lead in the 2026 Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks now hold a 94 percent chance of punching their ticket to the championship round for the first time since 1999.
Though fans, pundits, and whatever Stephen A. Smith is may all be over the moon with excitement and confidence, Towns is making sure he and his teammates understand that nothing is guaranteed.
Following New York's Game 2 win, KAT told reporters that despite the fact that they are two wins away from the NBA Finals, he and his teammates "don't feel any closer than we did last game" and that, with every outing still set to come their way, they'll be looking to come in with a "0-0" mindset.
Knicks seem to understand how pivotal Game 3 still is despite 2-0 lead
Historically speaking, Game 3 in a best-of-seven series has regularly proven to have a major influence on a playoff series' outcome.
Whether it's surface-level findings such as the sheer fact that it allows the higher seed to set the tone while on the road, or deeper dives that reveal that the team that wins when tied 1-1, for instance, goes on to win the entire series 73.3 percent of the time, the third face-off in this modern-era playoff format is arguably the most influential behind only Game 7.
Fortunately, the Knicks are well aware of this, as Towns told reporters during his post-game presser that they view Game 3 as a must-win, calling it "the most important game of the year."
Frankly, it would be rather easy for New York to find themselves taking their foot off the gas now that they've secured a 2-0 series lead, for teams that have found themselves in such a position during the conference finals have gone on to advance 92.6 percent of the time.
Of course, just as Kobe's classic quote while up 2-0 in the 2009 NBA Finals kicked off, Towns, too, is questioning "what's there to be happy about?"
The mandate for this Knicks team is to reach the NBA Finals, with the ultimate goal of winning it. With two more wins separating them from a title-round berth, the job is most certainly not finished.
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