With everything meshing at right time New York can win NBA title, but cakewalk sweeps are over

“The Western Conference Finals are the real NBA Finals.”

We all read that or heard it on a podcast just a week ago, before the two conference finals rounds tipped off. Versions of it have popped up again in the past handful of days to push back because exuberant Knicks fans, who are feeling themselves after watching their team destroy Cleveland and everyone else in their path and returning to the NBA Finals for the first time since “Livin’ La Vida Loca” was the No. 1 song in the nation.

Advertisement

The argument that the Knicks were a doormat for the West winner is not that the Knicks were a bad team, it’s that they were playing in the JV circuit. Meanwhile, the 64-win defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder with MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, going up against the 62-win San Antonio Spurs with Victor Wembanyama was the varsity.

That argument would have merit if we were talking about the regular season Knicks, a 53-win team with a +6.5 net rating — a quality team, a contender, but a step below the Spurs and Thunder.

These Knicks are different

These playoff Knicks are different. This team can compete with the best — they have won their 12 games so far by 273 points and lost two games by one point each (on CJ McCollum shots). This is a team that has shown the grit and resilience needed in the postseason. Think about what The Kincks have going for them.

Advertisement

• Jalen Brunson is being Jalen Brunson, an All-NBA player, an elite shot creator and scorer.
• Karl-Anthony Towns has thrived as the hub of the offense, but more importantly, even when the Cavaliers did a good job of forcing the Knicks away from that offense, Towns impacted games, hit the boards hard (12 rebounds a game against the Cavaliers) and continued to play the best defense of his career. He’s not been a target as he has been in the past and has shown real range on defense.
• Mikal Bridges has become the two-way force the Knicks envisioned when they gave up a Brinks Truck full of picks to land him — 18.5 points a game on 54.7% shooting against Cleveland.
• OG Anunoby has been a two-way force and shot 36.8% from 3 against Cleveland.
•…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/everything-meshing-time-york-win-153230261.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-05-26 15:32:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.