{"id":1912494,"date":"2026-05-01T09:30:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T06:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1912494"},"modified":"2026-05-01T09:30:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T06:30:19","slug":"is-the-eastern-conference-the-knicks-to-lose-it-feels-that-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1912494","title":{"rendered":"Is the Eastern Conference the Knicks\u2019 to lose? It feels that way"},"content":{"rendered":"
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ATLANTA \u2014 Update: The New York Knicks are serious. Very serious.<\/p>\n

Could the Knicks do it again?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

That\u2019s what I asked<\/a>, and many fans wondered, as New York went into Game 6 after two convincing wins over the Atlanta Hawks to come back and take a 3-2 series lead. This team\u2019s focus fluttered from week to week during the regular season. So did its attention to detail. If the playoffs had trap games, Thursday\u2019s felt like one of those. To avoid it, the Knicks\u2019 Dr. Jekyll-and-Mr. Hyde split personality needed to capture whichever persona would put Atlanta to sleep.<\/p>\n

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What New York ended up doing should have put the entire roster and coaching staff in handcuffs. It was beyond dominance. It was an annihilation.<\/p>\n

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The Knicks led by 40-15 after the first quarter \u2014 it should be mentioned that Atlanta had a 9-0 run in the game\u2019s first 12 minutes. They led 60-19 at one point. By the end, New York beat the Hawks so badly<\/a>, 140-89, that Pac\u00f4me Dadiet and Ariel Hukporti played a combined 20 minutes in a postseason game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was huge for us because, like I said, we feel like we gave two games away,\u201d Josh Hart said. \u201cWe wanted to come out with a great attention to detail and focus from the jump. I feel like our starts have been pretty good this series, and we wanted to set a tone from the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

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New York doesn\u2019t feel like the clear-cut favorite to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals just because it beat the Hawks, who aren\u2019t as good as the six-game series suggested. It feels that way because Karl-Anthony Towns has mastered an offense that he tussled with all season.<\/p>\n

The irony.<\/p>\n

It feels that way because Hart is defending at an All-Defensive Team level. It feels that way because OG Anunoby might be the best two-way player on the planet right now. It feels that way because, at the end of the day, Jalen Brunson still might be the best pound-for-pound scorer in basketball.<\/p>\n

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In addition to all of that, head coach Mike Brown seems to have a better understanding of his team. It took three games into the playoffs for that to happen, but he pushed all the right buttons after pushing the wrong ones, which played a big part in his team facing a 2-1 series deficit.<\/p>\n

Brown said the Knicks changed their offense in the postseason. He dusted off players who hadn\u2019t played much toward the end of the regular season and benched ones who had. He and his staff got the best out of New York when its back was against the wall.<\/p>\n

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\u201cQuin (Snyder) and his staff helped us get better,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI think they would say the same about us. Quin pushed a lot of the right buttons, and their team did, too. It kept making us figure out how we could help our guys be better. I appreciate that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a wild, wild East, the Knicks currently feel the most stable.<\/p>\n

Think about it. The Celtics have blown a 3-1 lead and now have to beat the 76ers in a Game 7 to advance. Maybe Philadelphia is legit, but it\u2019s hard to believe that a team with health issues for the greater part of a decade will remain whole if it were to advance. The top-seeded Pistons have to beat the Magic two more times before we put them back in the conversation as a legit East contender. The Cavaliers are struggling with a Raptors team that has an offense that can hurt the eyes if you watch it for too long.<\/p>\n

New York has won its last three games by a combined 96 points. No team in the playoffs has demolished an opponent to that degree. The defense is legitimately good. The offense has so many weapons. The Knicks are clicking on all cylinders and, at the very least, it\u2019s boosted their confidence after a rocky postseason start.<\/p>\n

The East, more than the West, always felt more up for grabs going into this postseason. The Celtics seemed to be the universal favorite, but their willingness to live and die by the 3 always caused many to pause. It hurt them last postseason. It\u2019s hurting them again this postseason. The Knicks can beat you in different ways. They can play through Towns. They can play through Brunson. Anunoby is having the best stretch of his career as a shooter. Hart has ripped away egos as a defender. New York isn\u2019t a one-trick pony.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, most importantly, (a performance like this) shows us what we\u2019re capable of defensively,\u201d said Brunson, whose team ranked No. 6 in defense from Jan. 1 until the end of the regular season. \u201cThat\u2019s really important. We still have a long road to travel, so staying locked in and knowing what we\u2019re capable of is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Knicks haven\u2019t appeared in an NBA Finals since 1999. They haven\u2019t won an NBA championship since 1973. A lot has to go right for both droughts to end, but ending the former feels within reach.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s hard to look at this New York team and not think, right now, that it\u2019s flirting with perfection. It has the wings who can score and defend. It has players who can be considered the best players in a series, no matter the opponent. It has the defenders to stifle other teams\u2019 best players. It has an advantage against most teams inside. Even the bench seems capable of holding a lead when the starters are sitting. The coach continues to have a better pulse on his team and what works best for it.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re at a point where it feels as if New York is its own worst enemy, and even that logic is starting to feel shaky. The individual talent has always been there, but now it\u2019s starting to look like a team. A real team.<\/p>\n

The Knicks should come out of the East. They\u2019re playing their best basketball at the right time \u2014 only the 76ers can say the same thing, and they still have to win one more game.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ATLANTA \u2014 Update: The New York Knicks are serious. Very serious. Could the Knicks do it again?\u00a0 That\u2019s what I asked, and many fans wondered, as New York went into Game 6 after two convincing wins over the Atlanta Hawks to come back and take a 3-2 series lead. This team\u2019s focus fluttered from week […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1912494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1912494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1912494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1912494\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1912494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1912494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1912494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}