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The New York Knicks are going to the NBA Finals. Generations of Knicks fans have been waiting to say that, have been waiting to hear those words. And I know the Knicks are still four wins away from ending that infamous 53-year championship drought. The Knicks haven't won one since 1973, but just getting this far makes this team legend in New York. And I know every Knicks fan, every New Yorker will agree with me. No other Knicks team of the 21st century has gotten this far. The Knicks haven't been to the finals since 1999. And you start thinking about some of the names that have come through the mecca during that time and who couldn't get it done. And then think about this team, Alan Houston
and Latrell Spreewell, they could never really replicate their 1999 run. Carmelo Anthony and Amari Stomire topped out in the second round. Even though people think Carmemelllo sometime Nick Knicks legend, you know, all the losing that led to the Chrisaps Porzis era didn't really amount to much. He didn't take him anywhere. You start, you think about the bign name coaches that tried to do this in the 21st century and couldn't. Lenny Wilkins, Larry Brown, Mike Danton, Tom Tibido, just some of the names who couldn't get the Knicks over the hump. Mike Brown comes in year one, gets it done. Think of some of the executives that couldn't get the job done. Isaiah
Thomas, Donnie Walsh, Phil Jackson was an embarrassment in New York, tarnished his legacy. Leon Rose comes in over the last half decade, quiet, steady, the least drama the Knicks have seen in a long time, gets it done. All those guys I talked about, the Carmelos, the Phil Jacksons, the Mike Danton's, the Lenny Wilkins, they came, they saw, none conquered until this team, this group, Mike Brown, Leon Rose got it done. And it begins and ends with Jaylen Brunson. We're going to get to a bunch of the reasons why the Knicks are here, but Jaylen Brunson is the reason. Relentless, tough as nails, undersized guard who spent part of his youth growing up at MSG, which is what makes this such a great story, too. While his
dad, current Knicks assistant Rick Brunson, was a player on the Knicks. So, you think about even that, it's like the prodigal son returns. Think of all the big names the Knicks chased over the last quarter century plus, right? LeBron, everyone wanted him in New York in 2010, ends up going to Miami. Um, the players after that, Giannis right now, right, the Knicks seemingly wanting to go after Giannis, Donovan Mitchell before he went to Cleveland. All these guys that were supposed to be the next big thing to save the Knicks and they either struck out or didn't get involved in trying to get those guys. And then Jaylen Brunson, undersized guard, zero time all-star when he arrives in New
York in 2022, coming off some good seasons in Dallas. Obviously, there was excitement for him, but no one could have envisioned this. And then that guy, that New Jersey native who grew up around Madison Square Garden arrives in 2022. Before he got there, the Knicks had won one playoff series in the 22 years prior to Brunson's arrival. Okay? They've won seven series in the four season since Brunson became a Nick and at least one series every year. And along the way, in case you forgot, Jaylen Brunson sacrificed tens of millions of dollars on his extension to make sure the Knicks had more flexibility to help his team. That dude is the king of New York. And I don't want to hear him say, "Well, they
haven't got the job done. They haven't won the title yet." That might be true, and maybe they won't do it cuz the Thunder and Spurs are the two best teams in basketball. But don't tell me he's not the king of New York and Jaylen Brunson isn't going to be remembered forever as a New York legend. Like John Starks back in the day, how many shots did he miss in game seven of the 94 finals? John Starks went two for 18 in game seven of the 1994 NBA Finals, including 0 for1 from three and the Knicks lost to Houston in a heartbreaker. And he's still considered a New York legend because of how he helped that team get to the finals and what he did in the early 90s. It's no different for Jaylen Brunson and
then some cuz Brunson's actually the star of his team and that's inspiring in its own right when you consider the history of small guards in the NBA. Those guys are supposed to get beat up and wilt and be taken advantage of every year in the playoffs. And all Jaylen Brunson does is show up and elevate his game every year. So Brunson is stamped as a postseason performer, as a dog, as a New York legend forever. We also have to talk about Carl Anthony Towns. This is a guy that has taken a lot of crap in his career and you know justifiably so at some points very checkered postseason history very polarizing one-way big
man. He's completely rewritten his own postseason story and narrative this spring by playing the most complete basketball of his career. And I think it's really fascinating when you think about the turnaround for the Knicks this spring. It was Carl Anthony Towns going to the Knicks coaching staff and suggesting that they use him as more of a playmaking hub. Okay. Something a role he's never really played in his career, but one that he's talented enough to do so. Credit to him for the idea. Credit to Mike Brown and the Knicks coaching staff for being receptive to the idea. And then you start looking at it and the way the Knicks have turned it around since then. They've been the most
efficient offense in the playoffs. running the offense through Towns. It achieves a number of objectives. One, it keeps Towns fully engaged, which is big. It eases the burden on Brunson. He doesn't have to initiate and create every single possession. We talked about how tough it is for undersized guards who get beat up this time of year. Um, it diversifies the Knicks offense, right? Like Towns's combination of skill and size allows him to see over the defense, survey the floor, find cutters. The Knicks are cutting more with Cat uh with Cat kind of being the hub of the offense. He can find those cutters. can
find the open man. He can find the right play and make the right decision every time down the floor. The proof's in the pudding. Like I said, no team has scored more efficiently in the playoffs. I mentioned the Knicks kind of getting more movement off the ball and cutting more. So, if you look at their frequency of offense that comes off cuts, it's up 30% in the playoffs compared to the regular season. Towns ranks third on the team in playoff scoring. And I think if someone had told you two months ago, Cat, you know that playoff history when the playoffs roll around, he's going to be third on the Knicks in scoring, you'd be like, "Oh no, here we go again. Cat, another playoff stinker, but he's
actually averaging almost six assists per game." Okay. While leading the team in rebounds and blocks and being third in scoring. And it's really interesting. Towns had never averaged more than 4.8 assists in a regular season. Never 2.6 assists in a postseason. He's averaging 5.9 this year. His single game careerhigh for playoff assists entering this season was five. He's hit that mark or eclipsed it in nine of his last 11 games since that change. And unsurprisingly, we mentioned how it makes life easier for Brunson.
Unsurprisingly, Brunson's 27 points per game coming on the highest efficiency of his postseason career. The Knicks two stars, Brunson and Towns, they've been supported by players who aren't stars, but are stars in their roles. Think about OGNobi. He's averaging roughly 20 points, 2.6 steals, and blocks on 72% true shooting while posting the best onoff differential on the team. Mikuel Bridges. I killed Mikuel Bridges early in the postseason when the Knicks were down 2-1 to Atlanta for being the reason the Knicks weren't going to get to the finals, maybe costing them their best chance to get here. Rake them over the Colts just like every other critic did because the Knicks traded five first
round draft picks for him two years ago to get to this point. Well, all Muel Bridges has done since then, since I ripped him, is shoot 71% inside the ark, 38% from deep, and 100% from the free throw line over the last nine games. Josh Hart, ultimate glue guy, connector on both ends, even though he can't shoot. So, those five starters, Cat, Brunson, OG, Bridges, Hart, who their collective performance was kind of doubted coming into the playoffs because they didn't play that well together during the regular season. Those guys have carried the load as they should, but don't discount the bench and the sneaky depth the Knicks have. Miles McBride shooting off the bench has been
huge. Landry Sham underrated two-way player. Crazy work on Donovan Mitchell in game one when the Cavs collapse down the stretch. Mitchell Robinson not playing a lot, but his offensive rebounding in a limited role is huge for the Knicks. And also the way Mike Brown is using Mitchell Robinson has been really cool because as you know Mitchell Robinson's a terrible free throw shooter. So what happens? Opposing teams intentionally foul him to one limit the Knicks effectiveness because he's a terrible free throw shooter and two in an effort to play Robinson off the floor because they're worried about his offensive rebounding knowing he wants to give up those rebounds. So Mike Brown
says, "Okay, we're going to play him. We're going to get you in the penalty and get us in the bonus." So now we're in the bonus the rest of the quarter. And once you've committed so many fouls on Robinson that we're in the bonus, then we'll sit him. Mike Brown has used that strategy and that tactic to the Knicks advantage and used it against the teams playing the Knicks. The Knicks defense, I worried about it coming in with Brunson and Cat and the liabilities there at the point of attack and at the rim. Yeah, so much for that. Uh I thought it was regular season fools gold. The Knicks have the best defense in the playoffs to match their top ranked offense. It just seems like the team came together and peaked at the
right time. And again, I know you can say, "Well, can you really say that if they haven't actually won the title yet?" Even just getting here is an accomplishment, especially for the Knicks. You look at the way they've dominated teams over these first three rounds. Even if you're thinking the competition wasn't as great as the Thunder or Spurs, they have no chance. One, the Knicks enter the finals on an 11game winning streak. Only four other teams in NBA history have ever won 11 straight games in a single playoffs. And none no team in playoff history has dominated opponents as thoroughly as the Knicks have since they last lost the game, which by the way was more than a damn month ago. Okay, you think about
what they did to the Hawks. I mentioned, you know, Cat going to the coaches and them changing their offense and Muel Bridges getting better and just the way the turnaround happened. The Knicks went from being down 2-1 on the road in Atlanta against the six-seated Hawks in the first round and looking like the sky was falling to putting the Hawks to bed with a 51 point beat down in game six. They win the last three games of that series. They completely broke Philadelphia spirit in a second round sweep in which they outscored the Sixers by 89 points. They roared back from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter
of game one against Cleveland. Then put the high-priced Cavaliers, the only second apron team in the league, out of their misery over their next three contests. And you add it all up and over the last 11 games, which the Knicks have won every single one of them, they've outscored the Hawks, the Sixers, and the Cavs by an average of 23.8 points per game. They've won every game by double digits. Again, no team in NBA playoff history, has been this good, this dominant for this long a stretch. So don't tell me they don't have a chance against the Thunder or Spurs. they have a chance. Um, they're going to be underdogs and that's fine, but the Spurs and the Thunder are not going to take
the Knicks lightly, man. This is a two-way juggernaut. An overwhelming sense of belief is around the team. You can feel it. And there does seem to be an air of destiny about them. Maybe I'm getting carried away. Maybe I'm getting too swept up and watching all the Knicks fan celebrations in watching Timothy Shalamé be more excited to take a picture with Cat and Brunson than he is to take one with Kylie or Kendall Jenner, whichever Jenner he's with. But I am getting swept up by all of that. And I do think the Knicks have a shot. There's an air of destiny about them. And then don't forget too, they're going to have a big rest advantage. Like if Thunder Spurs ends in six, that's still a three-day rest advantage over whoever
wins that series by the time the finals start. And if the West final goes seven, that's a five-day rest advantage for the Knicks against a team coming out of the West that has injury concerns no matter who wins. If it's the Spurs, yeah, Harper and Fox are back, but we don't really know what's going on there. like going forward, you don't want to go into a finals with either of those guys potentially banged up. And then the Thunder, it's even worse. Jaylen Williams hasn't returned yet. Uh AJ Mitchell, who's their best bench scorer, is out right now. So, the Knicks are going to have a rest advantage against a potentially tired, beat up, and injured team one way or the other. Again, don't tell me these guys don't have a shot.
But anyway, whatever. Those finals questions, they can wait for now. Knicks fans, long-suffering, starving Knicks fans. Obviously, they want to win the championship, but for the next week, I think they just want to celebrate being back on basketball's biggest stage and the team that helped them get there. And it was this group and this coach and this front office who did what quite frankly a lot of people thought no one in New York would be able to do while working for James Dolan. This group did it. Kudos to them. Congratulations, Knicks fans. Hope you're living it up for the next week until the final start. and we'll we'll have a conversation then about what happens in the finals and
whether they finish the job or not. But either way, no one in New York, no Nick Knicks fan is going to forget this team. That's it for me. Don't forget to like and subscribe. Make sure you're checking out my content and all of our content on the Scores app on our YouTube page. And I'll catch you next time.
