The New York Knicks have stunned the basketball world being up 2-0 in their second round series against the Boston Celtics. So many people had already counted them out before the series began, but now they suddenly have all of the momentum heading into Game 3.
ESPN’s Mike Greenberg calls the Knicks’ playoff run the most ‘improbable’ in league history
Despite the Knicks being the third seed in the Eastern Conference, they were dominated by the Celtics in the regular season and had shown a rather sizable gap between the two teams. Now, suddenly that gap seems smaller with the Knicks’ unprecedented run.
ESPN’s Mike Greenberg went far as to say on Get Up that their run through these playoffs is reaching historic levels of excellence.
“What the New York Knicks have done in the 2025 playoffs is obviously not impossible by definition, but it is most certainly improbable,” Greenberg said. “In fact, it is likely the most improbable run in NBA postseason history.”
Greenberg then went on to say how the Knicks’ clutch factor is what has gotten them to this point. Jalen Brunson has been a fourth quarter machine throughout the playoffs, and it was his shot in Game 6 of the first round against the Detroit Pistons that sent them home.
The Knicks are playing cohesively at the right time
Now, he and the rest of his team are coming through at the right time with the odds stacked against them. The Celtics were a force through the regular season as well, and given that they are the defending champions, virtually nobody thought that New York was going to even win more than one game in the series.
New York is showing the grittiness and intensity on defense that a lot of fans fell in love with from last year’s team. Their defensive pressure on the Celtics’ star players such as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown has shown to overwhelm Boston, and New York has not backed down despite trailing by 20 points at points in both games so far this series.
The series is far from over, as the Knicks still need to win two more games to officially put the Celtics away. However, all the momentum is on their side with the series heading to Madison Square Garden, and New York can grab a 3-0 series lead with a win on Saturday.