It is a great time to be a New York Knicks fan. The team from the Big Apple is the hottest team in the NBA Playoffs, and we have yet to see the best out of them. With only one loss in the playoffs so far, the Knicks look tough as rock, and their fans are hoping that this may be the year for them.
It’s been more than half a century since the Knicks won their last NBA championship. Dave DeBusschere, Willis Reed, and Walt Frazier led the 1973 Knicks to a 4-1 win in the Finals series against the Los Angeles Lakers, winning their second championship in a four-year span. The Knicks fans thought that they were taking over the league, and none of them could believe that even 50 years later, there would be no third banner under the roof of Madison Square Garden.
There have been a couple of great Knicks teams ever since, but none of them could go all the way to the top. The Knicks drafted Patrick Ewing first overall in 1985, who is considered the greatest Knick of all time, but the center from Georgetown could not lead the team to the ultimate prize.
The Knicks were so close in 1994, when they had a 3-2 lead in the Finals series against the Houston Rockets, but still fell short at the end. Five years later, with Ewing sidelined with an injury, the Knicks became the first team in NBA history to make it to the finals after being eighth-seeded coming into the playoffs. Led by Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston, the Knicks stunned everybody but could not go past Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs.
The team was struggling big time in the early 2000s, having one of the most expensive teams in the league. Still, they barely made it to the playoffs. Carmelo Anthony was seen as a saviour of the franchise when he put on the Knicks uniform in 2011, but only one conference finals appearance was not what the Knicks fans were hoping for.
In the past decade, New York was not a desirable destination for the top free agents in the league. Therefore, the Knicks went after Jalen Brunson, a backup point guard who was in Luka Doncic’s shadow for four seasons in Dallas. Giving him a $104 million contract was criticized by the Knicks fans, but Brunson became the cornerstone of the current Knicks.
They returned to the playoffs in his first season with Brunson and have made it past the opening round in the last three years, something they did only once in the 21st century before Brunson showed up.
Tom Thibodeau surrounded Brunson with great role players like his college teammates Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart, and then the Knicks traded for another superstar in Karl-Anthony Towns. These guys led the Knicks to a 51-31 record in the 2024-25 season and the third seed in the East.
The Knicks outplayed the Detroit Pistons in the opening round, and despite witnessing their toughness, not many gave them any chance against the defending champions, the Boston Celtics, in the second round.
The Celtics dominated the Knicks in recent years, going into the series as winners of 8 of their last nine matchups. The Celtics won all four games against the Knicks in the regular season by an average margin of 16 points. So, how could you possibly expect the Knicks to beat the Celtics in a seven-game series?
Most of the Knicks fans could not find a reasonable response to that question, but Thibodeau definitely did, and that is what matters. Against all the odds, the Knicks won both games in Boston, and what makes those wins even more impressive is that they were down by 20 points in each of those games.
The job is far from over, but bettors are already placing their wagers – see the full list of the best offshore sportsbooks. Brunson and his teammates proved that they can outplay the Celtics on both ends of the floor. Now, when they have the home-court advantage, that’s all they need to give their fans a reason to believe that this team can go all the way.
If the Knicks move past the Celtics, they will most likely play the Indiana Pacers in the conference finals. These two met in the second round last year, with the Pacers winning Game 7 in MSG after Brunson got hurt. The potential rematch would be a great series, with the Knicks having the home-court advantage and the experience from last year. That is definitely a winnable series for the Knicks, and who knows what could happen in the NBA Finals.
Whoever comes out of the West will have a die-hard team to face off. There is no team in the league that can out-hustle these Knicks, and with that attitude, the Knicks will have a chance against anybody. In the end, this is the year for the Knicks and for one of the best stories in recent NBA history.
Michael Burns
Founder of HoopSocial. Girl Dad. WNBA stan. Syracuse Orange and Charlotte Hornets fan. Sarcasm is my native tongue. You can follow me on Twitter at @mike_hoopsocial.