The Knicks’ resilience has been the story of this playoffs

No matter the deficit, no matter the noise: The Knicks haven’t backed down at all.

It wasn’t too long ago that people genuinely didn’t like this Knicks team.

0-10 vs the top-3 teams in the NBA. No signature win.

Defensive lapses. No bench. No toughness.

No fire. No resilience. Soft.

Soft was the main word. Any adversity, and they crumble. Trae Young rolled dice on the Knicks logo in MSG. Malik Beasley shimmied throughout MSG. The aforementioned Beasley called his Detroit Pistons mentally tougher than a Knicks team that had more negative PR than any 50-win team in the history of basketball entering the playoffs.

Many fans lamented this team’s lack of toughness, referencing the gritty underdogs that the Knicks had been in each of the last two postseasons, specifically in 2024 due to the fire of guys like Donte DiVincenzo and Isaiah Hartenstein.

Entering the postseason, the Pistons were a popular upset pick against the Knicks. People cited the regular-season series (3-1 Pistons), the Pistons’ play since the All-Star break, and the cute commentary on Cade Cunningham being the best player in the series.

Game 1 in the World’s Most Famous Arena was choppy to start, but the Knicks started to slip in the third quarter, falling behind by as much as nine against the underdog Pistons. The shouts were getting louder.

In the fourth, the Knicks responded with an iconic 21-0 run, spearheaded by the much-maligned bench:

Even after their Game 1 win, the Knicks didn’t do themselves any favors with a flat effort in Game 2, falling at home and having their PR suffer to a catastrophic degree due to a few questionable fouls drawn by Jalen Brunson.

The Knicks persisted, taking home court back with a gritty Game 3 win. In Game 4, an early 16-point lead was erased into an 11-point deficit, only for the Knicks to be saved by their two superstars in a comeback win:

But of course, the narrative wasn’t about this Knicks team being tough. After losing Game 5 at home, the Knicks were back on the fraud label.

“The only reason they’re not facing elimination is a missed call at the end of Game 4”

Prove them wrong. Blow two double-digit leads in Game 6, fall behind by seven with 2:30 left. Stare a Game 7 straight in the face, only for your captain to go supernova and will your team to the second round in six games of pure war.

They survived a series against a group of guys who thought they were better and tougher than they actually were. But now, they had to face the reigning champions.

The Celtics defeated the Knicks four times in the regular season by a combined margin of 65 points. 3 of the 4 games were true blowouts. Nobody gave the Knicks a shot, including the admittedly biased fans of the team covered at P&T.

Game 1 in TD Garden came around. The Knicks fought tough early, but fell into a 20-point hole against the defending champions in the third quarter.

And then, something weird happened. The reigning champions couldn’t close the game. They kept missing good looks and opened the door for the Knicks to rally back behind an inspired defensive effort and steal the series opener:

Boston didn’t come out strong in Game 2, but foul trouble and the good ol’ Hack-A-Mitch led to yet another 20-point Celtics lead in the third quarter. Basketball is a volatile sport, but a team like the Celtics isn’t blowing it again.

Until they did. The reigning champions felt mentally weak and lost in the clutch against a franchise that hadn’t been within 8 wins of a title in 25 years. The Knicks stole both games in TD Garden and became the first team to come back from two 20+ point deficits in a series.

And they did it in back-to-back games in the reigning champs’ crib. As -800 underdogs.

And yet, they were still discredited.

Entering Game 3, the Knicks were underdogs in not only the must-win game for Boston, but the series. Analysts didn’t talk about Boston being in a perilous position.

All they said was that Game 3 was a must-win for the Knicks. If you let the champs get one, you’re done. Whoever won Game 3 won the series.

Boston came out with the energy that was missing in the first two games and punched the Knicks in the mouth, stealing Game 3 in MSG and getting back into the series. Now as -300 favorites despite being down in the series, the consensus once again shifted to the Celtics enforcing their dominance on a team that got lucky twice.

And that’s how Game 4 started. Boston didn’t miss early. Jayson Tatum (who we wish the best for with his injury) and Derrick White combined for 29 in the first quarter. No matter the coverage, no matter the effort, it just looked like Boston had found their stride and was not letting the Knicks take control of this series.

All of a sudden, the Knicks were down 11 after one despite not playing poorly. They trailed by 13 in the second and by 14 in the third. When Boston went up by 14 in the third, it was after a disastrous Towns transition turnover that led to an easy White 3. It was comical. All I could do was laugh.

And yet, the Knicks refused to let it slip away. Jalen Brunson, who took just eight shots in the first half, exploded for 18 points in the third quarter. Improbably, the Knicks entered the fourth quarter with a lead after slowly wearing down the Celtics’ defense to a degree not seen all series.

The two superstars, Tatum and Brunson, went shot-for-shot in the fourth. Blow-for-blow. The Knicks briefly lost their lead, regained it, and lost it again. Tatum was scoring on whoever and whatever the Knicks threw at him.

But once again, the “mentally tougher” team appeared to be the Knicks.

Kristaps Porzingis, a former star of the city, was six years removed from his public trade request and ugly departure during the team’s darkest days. MSG never forgot. When Porzingis missed both free throws with 4:47 left in the game, it was the final momentum swing:

Boston started pressing. They looked rattled. Once they lost their leader to an unfortunate injury, they folded for good.

For the first time since the 2019 Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, a team has overcome three 14+ point deficits in a series.

All of this has the Knicks one game from their first conference finals appearance in 25 years.

Think of what they’ve overcome in this series. Not just the outside media noise, but the adversity in-game:

Game 1 vs Detroit: Down 98-90 with 9:16 left

Game 4 @ Detroit: Down 79-68 with 8:35 left

Game 6 @ Detroit: Down 112-105 with 2:25 left

Game 1 @ Boston: Down 75-55 in Q3

Game 2 @ Boston: Down 73-53 in Q3, down 84-68 with 8:30 left

Game 4 vs Boston: Down 72-58 in Q3

The Knicks won all six of these games.

Remember when you didn’t like this team? I know you do now.