With the Tampa Bay Rays taking on the Cleveland Guardians in Game 4 on Saturday, the team is down 2-1 in the series in the ALCS, though to one player, he’s seeing similarities to a team like the New York Knicks. As Game 4 will be key for the Rays to stay in the series against the Guardians, Richie Palacios would be the one to instill the motivation of them being the Knicks.
Coming from New York, Palacios brought up the Knicks when talking about how Tampa Bay is down 2-1 in the series to Cleveland, the same series deficit the basketball team was during the first round of the NBA Playoffs to the Atlanta Hawks. After that, the Knicks went on to lose only one game in the playoffs, and that was to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, which they ended up winning.
For Palacios, it was an easy comparison.
“Yeah, ride’s not done. We’re gonna lock in on what we need to. Damn, the Knicks were down 2-1, and they won the rest of the game, so we’re focusing on…I’m a big Knicks fan, so you know the vibe,” Palacios said, via MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM. “We’re following that belief in ourselves that they had, and we’re going to be excited for tonight.”
"The #Knicks were down 2-1 to Atlanta and they won the rest of the games"
Richie Palacios compares the Rays to the NBA champs:#RaysUp #Postseason
#ALCS Pregame Show with @DaniWex, @JimDuquetteGM, and @KevinFrandsen
https://t.co/iXax8hx4iO pic.twitter.com/JGcdT5vzIJ
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) October 17, 2026
Palacios would even be asked who on Tampa Bay is their version of Knicks star Jalen Brunson, saying that many players live up to him, as others are like Jose Alvarado and Deuce McBride.
“We got a lot of guys that are just gritty and want to get things done,” Palacios said.
At any rate, Palacios and the Rays look to channel the Knicks and bounce back from a 2-1 series deficit in the ALCS.
The post Infielder compares Rays’ ALCS deficit to Knicks’ NBA Finals run appeared first on ClutchPoints.
