Who’s got next?
For the ascending Knicks, it shouldn’t matter. They will ultimately have to defeat either the Detroit Pistons or the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were tied 2-2 in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals series going into Game 5 last night in Detroit, to make it to the NBA Finals, where they haven’t been since 1999.
On social media and other platforms, Knicks fans are commenting on and debating which of the two they prefer. If they believe the Knicks are who they were in decimating the Atlanta Hawks in Games 4 (114-98), 5 (126-97) and 6 (140-89) in a 4-2 opening round series victory, then sweeping the Philadelphia 76ers 4-0 — concluding with a 144-114 spanking on Sunday in Philly to close out their East semis matchup — then diehard supporters should be supremely confident regardless of which team the Knicks face the rest of the way. This includes the defending-champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
“It’s just us being very locked in to the moment,” said Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns after Sunday’s win.
It’s been a remarkable seven-game stretch for the Knicks, whose last loss came in Game 3 (109-108) to the Hawks on the road on April 23 to fall behind 2-1 in the series. It seems like an eternity ago when a plethora of Knicks fans were on edge and had a more grim outlook on their championship prospects.
But head coach Mike Brown and his staff maintained steady hands, and it translated to the players, who flipped a switch and have been a collective juggernaut ever since. But it also could be fools gold. In retrospect, the Hawks lacked the interior size and physicality to functionally combat the Knicks, and the 76ers minimal quality depth and a broken-down Joel Embiid posed little threat to New York.
Note: the 76ers prudently parted ways with their president of basketball operations Daryl Morey on Tuesday but smartly retained head coach Nick Nurse. Morey is an early NBA devotee of analytics who has gained a large following of analytics disciples yet abjectly underperformed in his role with the 76ers for the past six seasons, and prior to that stint, as the general manager of the Houston Rockets from 2007 to 2020.
While the Knicks exposed Morey and the 76ers, and have an incredible +194 point differential this postseason, don’t expect them to continue to breeze into the Finals. Playoff runs are never linear. Adversity lies ahead. But they are seemingly levitating at the right time and have coalesced on both ends of the floor to elicit hope that the franchise’s 53-year championship drought may end in about five weeks.