Don’t Count Out the Knicks
By: Andrew Ferguson
As the world waits for the ‘real NBA Finals’ matchup to finish between the Spurs and Thunder in the Western Conference, the Knicks are coming off a sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers, waiting to find out who they will contend against for a chance at a championship, their first appearance since 1999. Vegas and basketball fans alike see the winner of the Western Conference going on to win it all and the Knicks will be a walk in the (Central) park. But I have other thoughts and I don’t think this will be as easy as people think.
The New York Knicks have not won a title since 1973. Still better than 10 active franchises that have never won a single championship. Crazy that a third of the league has never won a title. Adam Silver will rig something up soon for some of these teams so have no fear! So it could always be worse for the Knicks. But what is different about this year and why should we believe? Especially given whatever opponent comes out of the west is a clear favorite.
Since that last finals appearance, the Knicks endured GMs Isaiah Thomas and Scott Layden make disastrous move after another trying to rebuild this franchise. This doesn’t even include the all in effort to bring in Carmelo Anthony in an attempt to save his hometown franchise. However in 2022, the Knicks were able to bring in Jalen Brunson through free agency. A move many Maverick fans weren’t happy about given Luka Doncic was in need of a supporting cast at the time. Brunson already has 29 playoff wins under his belt during his short time in New York while Melo had 7 in his entire tenure. I don’t think this is talked about enough and we can all agree Carmelo was talented but he was overrated. Come at me, I don’t care. Bringing in Brunson eventually led to the Knicks building around him as the core of this team to end up where we are today.
So how do the Knicks beat the Spurs or Thunder? Let’s talk about the good first. The Knicks aren’t just squeaking by in each round, they have totally dominated all of their opponents. They currently are riding an 11 game playoff win streak going back to their series against the Atlanta Hawks. I already mentioned they swept the Cavs, but they also swept the 76ers in the 2nd round. They are a total of 12-2 in the playoffs with the only 2 losses coming in the first round to Atlanta. They lost those 2 games by a total of 2 points. So they’re not getting blown out like we’ve seen in a lot of these lopsided playoff series. But during that 11 game win streak, the Knicks are winning by an average margin of 24 points per game. They aren’t necessarily a Cinderella 3 seed and deserve to be in the finals and in the conversation of winning a title.
In that time, we’ve seen all of Brunson’s supporting cast step up and put up huge numbers. A cast of 4 that I want to remind you of, was not drafted by the Knicks, but well put together by GM Gersson Rosas. Rosas made huge trades to acquire Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges. Who needs that 2nd round pick anyway? Tell that to the Denver Nuggets. But going all on this core came at a cost as the Knicks control their 2026 first round pick and not again until 2030.
But right now, this team is peaking at the right time, but it will still take a lot more than that to beat whoever comes out of the Western Conference. One advantage the Knicks have right now, is rest, specifically rest right now. So while the Spurs and Thunder continue to physically beat up on each other, the Knicks are able to get this rest before going into the toughest matchup they’ll have in the playoffs. The Thunder have swept both of their opponents as well before this series against the Spurs, but whichever team does advance, will definitely have to rub some dirt on their wounds and roll right into the series with the Knicks. And the Thunder are still without Jalen Williams who aggravated his hamstring injury. Which leads me to my next point; who do the Knicks actually match up better against?
Assuming Jalen Williams is healthy and starting for the Thunder, I think the Spurs are a better matchup for the Knicks (No s***, the Thunder are the 1 seed with the NBA’s MVP and the Spurs are the 2 seed). You also might think I’m crazy for thinking that there is a way to stop Victor Wembenyama. Well I’m not saying that at all. You just made that up in your head. There is no stopping Wemby, but it’s 5-on-5 and the Knicks match up well with the other positions. So let’s break it down: As long as KAT continues to show up in these playoffs, he can at least keep pace with Wemby while putting up offensive numbers. Again, that’s if he continues to show up. That’s the best you’re going to be able to do there. Give me Brunson over Castle or Fox. Brunson is capable of going for 40 on any given night and those 2 aren’t going to stop him. So besides the obvious super stars, I like the combination of Hart, OG and Bridges better on the wings than the young talent the Spurs have. That will be the biggest noticeable difference if the Spurs were to advance. I think all of this stays true even against the Thunder, but they will definitely have a much harder time if OKC is able to force turnovers and play at their own pace that’s proven to be deadly and championship worthy. The good news is, the Knicks play a similar style of half-court basketball and rely on being efficient with their possessions. If the Knicks end up running into the Thunder, they need to figure out how to not turn the ball over and defend the 3.
So how bad is the bad part of this argument? Well it’s not pretty. At least the Knicks’ opponents were not pretty. New York’s toughest battle so far in these playoffs has come against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round. Atlanta was one of the hottest teams towards the end of the year and no team in the East was aiming for them as their first round opponent. However, Atlanta lacked superstar power and depth that New York eventually took advantage of. Then came the aforementioned Cavs and 76ers. Notice how they avoided a 1 or 2 seed? They arguably have had one of the easiest road maps to the NBA finals in history by beating a 6 seed, 7 seed and 4 seed in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Pistons exceeded expectations this year as the 1 seed and with a young core, fell short to make a deep run and the Celtics ended up losing in 7 to Philly without Jayson Tatum, who may not have been 100% throughout the series as he made his comeback from an achilles injury from last year. So are the large scale beatdowns and win streaks impressive? I still think so. You can only play the schedule you’re handed and they’ve shown up.
Now for all my conspiracy theorists out there, here’s another area the Knicks have an advantage in. We have not had a back-to-back champion since the 2017-2018 Warriors and we’ve had entirely new champions every year in the NBA since 2019. So with the Thunder being up 3-2 in
the series and potentially the team moving forward. All answers point to the Knicks being that new champion right? I like my odds. Remember, Adam Silver likes a good story and hates dynasties.
Now don’t come running to me complaining you lost your money putting it all on the Knicks. That’s just funny even hearing that sentence. But when you look at how well the Pacers played the Thunder last year and took them to game 7, they were that close. If Haliburton wouldn’t have gotten hurt, we’d be having an entirely different conversation. I believe this Knicks team is more complete than that Pacers team that made a run in 2025 and definitely has a chance in a 7 game series. And when Vegas drops those odds when the Finals are set, I know I’ll like whatever number comes after that (+) sign for the Knicks.
At the end of the day, maybe talent wins out and OKC or San Antonio cuts the nets down. But if the Knicks win it all, just remember: Adam Silver sent the script months ago and for the next 37 years, the most obnoxious NBA fan base will consistently remind us of the 2026 Knicks.
