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The road to get here wasn’t always easy, but the Knicks are headed to their first NBA Finals since 1999 after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night, and they are peaking at just the right time.
After going down 2-1 to the Hawks in the first round, New York has rattled off 11 straight wins and has a +272 point-differential over that span. It’s been one of the most dominant stretches not just in Knicks history, but NBA history, and it all starts with head coach Mike Brown who saw his team start playing a this version of basketball towards the end of the regular season.
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“Down the stretch, like 6 or 7 games to go, after Landry [Shamet] got back, I started to see us play some good basketball and do more things that were selfless or more sacrificing from the group,” Brown said. “Throughout the course of the season you have your ups and you have your downs, and you have your good and your bad and your adversity that you have to fight through. Sometimes we got through it quickly, sometimes it took us a minute to figure it out.”
The trials and tribulations that the Knicks have faced not just this season but in postseason’s past where they got close to their final destination but couldn’t get over the hump has prepared them for this moment.
Even Brown, in his first season in New York, saw that the team had what it takes to get the job done.
“From afar, I just felt that this team was ready,” he said. “And I’m just thrilled to death that Mr. Dolan gave me an opportunity and Leon Rose gave me an opportunity to be a head coach again, especially here in New York.”
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Brown had been a head coach for the Sacramento Kings for two full seasons and helped turn the franchise around before getting fired in the middle of last season.
He’s also no stranger to reaching the finals as he was an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors for six seasons at the height of their dynasty. Therefore, he knows what it takes to finish the job and has been doing what he can to set his players up for success.
“Our group is playing good basketball and…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-peaking-perfect-time-playoffs-052544291.html
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Publish date : 2026-05-26 05:25:00
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