On Friday night, the New York Knicks secured their franchise’s biggest win of the 21st century. By beating the defending-champion Boston Celtics, New York advanced to their first Eastern Conference Finals in 25 years. However, their stunning upset of the Celtics marked something more than just an organizational turnaround from the incompetence that spanned two decades. For the first time since 1999, NY has a legitimate chance to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy, an accomplishment that hasn’t been done in 52 years.
Knicks With Chance at NBA Finals After Biggest Win In Decades
Of course, when you reach the Conference Finals, you always have a chance to win it all. However, things have broken so well for the Knicks through two rounds that they should rightfully expect to take home the 2024-25 NBA Title. Out of the three 60-win teams that New York “had no shot to beat” because of their 0-10 regular season record against those squads, two of them are already out. The third is Oklahoma City, who were pushed to the brink of elimination by the Denver Nuggets. New York dispatched of Boston in spectacular fashion, while their next opponent, the Indiana Pacers, demolished the 64-win Cleveland Cavaliers.
New York now begins an Eastern Conference Finals series with the Pacers, having home-court advantage and being slightly favored to win. For however impressive the Knicks have been through two rounds, Indiana has been just as good. They present several tough matchups for Tom Thibodeau’s group. With that said, the Knicks are four wins away from reaching their first NBA Finals in 26 seasons. Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the sport’s best two players, are both sitting at home. None of the three other remaining teams appears unbeatable. Perhaps most importantly, NY has a player whom they trust more than any opposing star in Jalen Brunson. They feel much more comfortable in crunch time than the other three squads. This is a golden opportunity they cannot let pass.
This Core’s First Real Chance for Glory
These next few weeks are arguably the franchise’s first legitimate chance at winning a championship since 1999, or even 1994, depending on whether you think they had any shot at upsetting the ’99 Spurs. It is the first genuine opportunity to win it all for this current core of players led by Brunson. Only four players from the 2022-23 second-round exit are still here (Brunson, Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson, Miles McBride). The rest of the core that helped transform Knicks basketball were traded to bring in OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Karl-Anthony Towns. These seven guys are now eight wins away from immortality in New York City. Brunson has cemented himself as one of the best players in franchise history.
For Brunson, Hart, Robinson, and McBride, this is their third playoff run together. It is the first time they have had a serious chance at actually winning the title. In 2023, they simply weren’t good enough. Even if they beat the eighth-seeded and eventual finalist Miami Heat, both Boston and Denver would have been huge favorites over New York. Last year, cluster injuries robbed them of a chance to upset the historically great Celtics.
In 2025, they’re finally fully healthy and have a talented enough roster to finish the job. They still have a long way to go. However, for the first time in a quarter-century, Knicks fans have reason to believe they can end the drought.
Featured image: © Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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