Longtime Garden nemesis Reggie Miller is picking the Knicks to take their first-round playoff series against the Pistons, but his prediction Friday came with a stern warning.
“This is going to be a fun series to watch. I just hope the Knicks respect them and don’t overlook them. Because if they do, then we could be looking at an upset,” Miller said in response to a question from The Post on a TNT conference call. “Experience, to me, matters. And I know everyone is saying it, but No. 1, I don’t think this is going to be an easy series for New York.
“I do think they will end up winning this series. But this is what they cannot do: They cannot overlook Detroit just because of the experience factor.”
Miller obviously knows a thing or two about late-game playoff heroics — particularly against the Knicks at MSG — and the Hall of Fame shooting guard also called Jalen Brunson “probably the best clutch player in our game.”
He added that he expects the All-Star point guard will be named the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year, an award won last year by Stephen Curry.
Fellow TNT analyst Stan Van Gundy also expects the Knicks to win a tough first-round set against budding star Cade Cunningham and upstart Detroit.
“Look, Detroit is good. … This team has, I think, surprised everybody and has been very, very good,” Van Gundy said. “But I’m with Reggie, I think New York, not only in experience, it’s [Karl-Anthony] Towns. I think to me, you’re gonna go with Brunson, Towns, and Cade Cunningham. I look at it and say, ‘Who are the top five or six players in that series?’ And I’m probably taking New York four of the top five or five of the top six.
“New York has not defended the way you would expect a New York team for most of the year. But they’ve been a little better lately, they’re getting healthy, and OG Anunoby is playing the best basketball of his career. That team, like Reggie said, it’s got experience. It’s got toughness. It’s got two great offensive players. I think they’ve got a little too much for Detroit.”
From there, neither analyst puts much stock in the Knicks finishing winless (0-8) this season against Cleveland and Boston, the top two seeds in the East.
Still, Van Gundy stressed that “the realistic expectation” for the Knicks this year “would be to win in the first round and then play a competitive second-round series” against the defending NBA champion Celtics, who face Orlando in the first round.
“Look, that New York-Boston series would be crazy. … That series would be off the charts in terms of fan interest,” SVG said. “I just don’t put a lot of stock in [head-to-head records]. With that said, I think Boston’s the better team right now. I think they’ve shown down the stretch — 18-3 to end the season — that they’re the team to beat, not only in that series but in the East and probably in the league.
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“But New York’s really, really good. Just like we said with New York and Detroit, it’s not going to be an easy series for Boston. New York can make it tough. … I just think Boston’s defense is better.”
Miller would not outright dismiss the Knicks’ chances of making an extended run following two straight second-round departures.
“You throw away that 0-10 [record] against all these other teams. It’s totally different in the playoffs,” Miller stressed, factoring in the Knicks’ two losses to West-leading Oklahoma City. “If they are fortunate enough to get by Detroit, you know who’s waiting for them in the second round.
“We know what Boston and the Knicks’ record is over the last two seasons. … But again, it’s the playoffs. It’s the new season. Anything is possible.”