The New York Knicks seemingly spent the entirety of their regular season demonstrating their sound standing as a second-tier contender.
Some of their highest-profile moves of the last few seasons have seemingly been made with the intention of stopping the Celtics, with fringe-All-Star wings like OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges each brought aboard with the intention of slowing down Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in a big game.
It looked like their plan would be for naught, with the Celtics winning all four of their matchups against New York this past season, enabling just about everyone to pick them over the Knicks when they drew the reigning champions in the second round of these playoffs.
Not only have the Knicks’ wings soundly outplayed the Celtics stars, with Anunoby playing consistent defense all game before Bridges makes routine clutch stops like he did with Game 1’s tie-up and Game 2’s block, but all of Boston has looked sluggish. They’re getting beaten on the margins, losing every loose ball and giving up big play after big play in these close second halves.
THAT'S GAME‼️ pic.twitter.com/vdjkJT4UMg
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) May 8, 2025
A lot of that chaos can be attributed to New York’s role players, who took it to the Celtics in a dramatic Game 2 victory. Mitchell Robinson, in particular, offered a much-needed defensive presence in backing up Karl-Anthony Towns. He’s the Knicks’ best rim protector and block collector, but can hang comfortable on the perimeter against Jayson Tatum. Just look at the play that sealed Boston’s 0-2 deficit, where Robinson funnels the ball handler away from an isolation situation into triple coverage.
Josh Hart, too, acted as a noteworthy catalyst. He was everywhere during New York’s 20-point comeback, their best bet in transition as a confident finisher and someone who Boston routinely failed to deter in the open court.
Josh Hart, running around like a madman and making things happen. pic.twitter.com/wAtXzqpYvO
— AOP_NBA (@aop_nba) May 6, 2025
The guard went for every rebound like a rabid dog in jumping over the sleepy Bostonites every time, almost like he was aware of the stakes and they weren’t. Hart passed, shot, and defended with admirable effort, having outscored Tatum through two games.
Hart joins Bridges as some of the NBA’s elite iron men. They’re only further empowered when they’re coached by someone like Tom Thibodeau, who’s as reluctant to tap into his bench as any coach we’ve ever seen. They’ve played 88 and 94 minutes through two games, respectively, yet they have a 2-0 lead to show for out out of sheer hustle.
