Knicks Clobber Celtics, Advance to First Conference Final Since 2000

The New York Knicks advanced to their first conference championship series since the year 2000 with a dominant 119-81 performance in Game 6 at Madison Square Garden on Friday night. In the 2000 Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks lost in six games to the Indiana Pacers. 

This year’s iteration of the Eastern Conference Finals will be a rematch of that same series from 25 years ago, as the Knicks will face a Pacer team that dominated the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games in round two. 

After a competitive first quarter (the Knicks led 26-20 and the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown had 13 of his team’s 20), the Knicks blew things open in the second quarter as they capitalized on Celtic misses. The Knicks outscored the Celtics 38-17 in the second, and led 64-37 at the break. Karl-Anthony Towns led the Knick charge in the first 24 minutes with 16 points and 6 rebounds on 6-for-13 shooting, while Miles McBride, who hit a triple at the buzzer, scored 10 points in 17 first half minutes. The Knicks shot 24-of-51 in the first half while the Celtics shot 33.3% and made just 4-of-19 threes in the first half. 

The Knicks continued to roll in the third quarter, spreading a thin Celtic rotation out. Brown, who in 32 minutes had put up 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists and did his best to keep the Cs going, fouled out with 2:50 remaining in the third quarter. Brown had 11 points in the first eight minutes of the game. One minute later after he fouled out, OG Anunoby, who led the Knicks with 23 points and 9 rebounds on 7-for-18 shooting, drilled a triple from the side to put the Knicks up by 42 points, 92-51. Not long into the fourth quarter, both teams’ benches entered the game in what was a night to celebrate for Knick alumni and fans alike. Walt Frazier sat courtside, as did Stephon Marbury, Tim Thomas, Larry Johnson, and Allan Houston. Ben Stiller, Lenny Kravitz, and Tracy Morgan rejoiced in jubilation. 

Jalen Brunson also scored 23 points, with 6 rebounds and 6 assists on 8-for-14 shooting. Towns ended up with 21 points and 12 rebounds on 8-for-20. His only make from downtown came in the first quarter. Mikal Bridges was 9-for-15 (4-for-6 from downtown) for 22 points. Josh Hart recorded a triple-double of 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. 

As a whole, the Knicks shot 46.2% and made 16-of-45 from downtown. They shot 19-of-21 from the line, the Cs only 7-of-10. The Knicks also maintained a massive rebounding advantage, 55-36. 

The Celtics shot just 36% and made 12-of-40 triples. After Brown, Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard off the bench was next highest in attempts with 10. He made five for 11 points. Al Horford was 2-for-4 from downtown for 10 points. Derrick White shot 3-for-11 and Jrue Holiday 1-for-8. Kristaps Porzingis gave his best effort in 11 minutes with 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 block, but was unable to give regular minutes in the series. He averaged just 15.5 minutes in the series after 27.4 in round one. 

Essentially, the Celtics were down two players with Jayson Tatum’s in Game 4 and Porzingis’ limited minutes all series. Friday’s defeat for the Celtics is a disappointing end to a season where even though the Cavaliers finished with the conference’s best record, many thought that the Celtics would be there at the end once again. Their offseason will be an interesting one. Surely there are some moves to be made. 

For the Knicks, their first conference finals appearance since 2000 is elation for one of professional sports’ most rabid fan bases. Their moves for Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns were each made for the hope of yielding these results. Their signing of Brunson for $104 million in 2022 has yielded great results, the point guard becoming one of the NBA’s best guards and most clutch players. In a city that has the brightest of lights, Brunson, who averaged 31.5 points in round one and 26.2 in round two, struts unafraid.