Even as the New York Knicks struggled for much of this century, they remained a popular franchise, drawing large crowds and generating interest in a basketball-mad city. That’s not to say those underachieving teams didn’t get criticized. They did. But at least the fans cared. Now those loyal supporters are rewarded with a team that looks like it could win the Knicks’ first NBA title since 1973.
On Sunday afternoon, the Knicks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 144-114 to win their Eastern Conference semifinals series four games to none. The Knicks scored the most points in their playoff history, tied the NBA postseason record with 25 3-pointers and dominated even with star wing OG Anunoby out for the second consecutive game.
While the game was at Philadelphia’s Xfinity Mobile Arena, the crowd was filled with New York fans who took the short trip and celebrated the Knicks’ victory, just as they did in Friday night’s Game 3 victory and two years ago when the Knicks defeated the 76ers in the first round.
Before taking the Knicks’ head coaching job last July, Mike Brown said he didn’t realize how well the fans traveled, although he said he understood their passion when he watched on television as they celebrated playoff victories in recent seasons outside Madison Square Garden by climbing light poles.
“I was like, ‘Wow,’” Brown told reporters Sunday in his postgame press conference. “You love it. You love seeing stuff like that….I’ve got a lot of respect for (Knicks fans). The more you’re around, the more you appreciate and understand why they are like that. But more than anything else, they’re knowledgeable.”
This was just the third time the Knicks have swept a seven-game series in franchise history, joining the 1969 team that defeated the Washington Bullets and the 1999 team that beat the Atlanta Hawks, both in the second round. Some New York fans on Sunday brought rooms to the arena, symbolizing the sweep, similar to what Knicks’ players did in 1989 following their 3-0 first round series victory over the 76ers.
Back then, the Knicks weren’t accustomed to winning, as that was their first playoff series win in five seasons. These Knicks, though, are on a playoff hot streak last seen in New York in the 1990s.
The Knicks advanced to the conference finals for the second consecutive season, the first time they’ve done so since 1999 and 2000. A year ago, they lost to the Indiana Pacers in six games in their first conference finals appearance in 25 years. This year, they are playing much better as they eye their first NBA finals since 1999 and first championship in 53 years.
The 76ers, meanwhile, failed to advance past the second round for the 25th consecutive season. They haven’t made the conference finals since 2001 when they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA finals.
Eight days after defeating the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of their first round series and becoming just the 14th team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 series deficit, the 76ers struggled from the start Sunday. The Knicks led 43-24 at the end of the first quarter, tied for the most points they’ve scored in a quarter in franchise history, and made 11 of 13 3-pointers. At halftime, they were up 81-57 and went 18-29 on 3’s, tying the NBA playoff record for most 3’s in a half.
It was reminiscent of the Knicks’ clinching 140-89 Game 6 victory over the Atlanta Hawks in the first round when New York led 83-36 at intermission, the largest halftime advantage in NBA playoff history. The 51-point victory was New York’s largest postseason margin ever.
On Sunday, the Knicks led by as many as 44 points and won by 30 even though their starters sat out the entire fourth quarter. Miles McBride, who started for Anunoby for the second consecutive game, scored a career playoff-high 25 points and made 7 of 9 3’s, while point guard Jalen Brunson had 22 points and six assists and connected on 6 of 10 3’s.
The Knicks made 53.8% of their field goals, including 56.8% on 3’s, which was a better percentage than the two other teams (the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2023 Milwaukee Bucks) that have made 25 3’s in a playoff game. They had 33 assists on 49 field goals.
“We spaced the floor very good,” Brown said. “When they committed two to the ball and/or would touch the paint and their defense collapsed, we did a great job of finding the open man and making one more pass without panicking.”
Center Karl-Anthony Towns added 17 points and 10 assists, the third time this postseason he had 10 assists. Before this season, Towns never had more than five assists in a playoff game, but Brown has altered Towns’ role to more of a facilitator. Towns is averaging 17.4 points, 10 rebounds and 6.6 assists in 10 playoff games
“We’ve made a lot of moves throughout the course of the year and throughout the course of the playoffs,” Brown said. “You just keep trying to do what’s best for the team. I don’t care what team I’m with. You’re talking about being in the NBA. Even if you do stuff right, you’re going to get criticized.”
For now, Brown isn’t receiving any blame, as he’s made the right decisions in his first season as Knicks’ coach. He took over after the Knicks fired coach Tom Thibodeau, who led the franchise to at least the second round of the playoffs for three consecutive seasons, the first New York coach to do that since Jeff Van Gundy 25 years earlier. When the Knicks fired Thibodeau, they made it clear they had higher goals than a conference finals appearance, and now Brown has them right back where Thibodeau did last May.
The No. 3 seed Knicks will have at least a week off before the conference finals, which are set to begin next Sunday at the earliest or May 19 at the latest depending on what happens with the other semifinal series between the No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons and No. 4 seed Cleveland Cavaliers. The Pistons lead 2-1 heading into Monday’s Game 4 in Cleveland. That series could end as early as Wednesday or as late as next Sunday.
The long layoff should help the Knicks in some ways, especially giving Anunoby time to recover from a right hamstring strain he sustained in Game 3 of the 76ers’ series. But it could also slow down a team that has won seven consecutive playoff games by an average of 26.4 points per game.
After Sunday’s game, Brown was asked whether there was part of him that wished he could play the next day.
“Definitely not tomorrow,” he said.
He then asked, “What is today?”
Told it was Sunday, Brown replied, “Maybe Wednesday. You like the rhythm that you’re in, but if we expect to be where we think we’re capable of being, we’ll find a way to stay consistent with what we’re doing.”
