With very few exceptions, no one expected the Knicks to leave Boston up 2-0, especially not after New York was trailing by 20 points in both games before the team’s furious comebacks and wins in the final seconds of both games.
Knicks fans are absolutely delirious with the team’s victories and can’t wait for the team to take the floor at the Garden on Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Boston fans are stunned, frustrated and angry over the two consecutive losses
Everyone has their takes and theories on why the Knicks have a commanding 2-0 lead in the series.
Jayson Tatum is still hurt.
Porzingis isn’t 100%.
The Celtics live and die by the three-point shot, and right now they’re dying by it.
All of those reasons are true, but the main reason why the Celtics find themselves in a 0-2 hole is simple.
It’s because of the Knicks.
NBA fans thought Boston’s regular-season sweep of the Knicks would carry over to the playoffs. Others thought Tatum and Jaylen Brown would be too much for the Knicks to overcome.
But they fail to realize that the Knicks team we’re all watching was built specifically to beat Boston.
It started last June when the team traded away five first-round picks to Brooklyn for Mikal Bridges in June, a move that some decried as a fleecing by the Nets.
A few days later, the team signed OG Anunoby to a five-year, $212.5 million deal in June, the largest deal in team history.
Four months later, the Knicks traded Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to the Timberwolves for Karl-Anthony Towns, stunning and upsetting fans anxiously waiting to see the Nova Knicks take the court for a run at the title.
The early results were mixed as superstar Jalen Brunson and KAT weren’t meshing and Bridges looked lost at times. Then, when injuries started to arise, critics pounced on head coach Tom Thibodeau and accused him of making his stars play too many minutes.
But the team still finished third overall in the Eastern Conference and would face a young, feisty Detroit Pistons team in the first round.
While that series was exciting and nail-biting, the Knicks prevailed thanks to Captain Crunchtime, Jalen Brunson.
That put them in line to play the Boston Celtics, and that is exactly what management envisioned starting back in July when they made of the personnel moves.
With Anunoby and Bridges, the Knicks have the length on the wings to match up with Tatum and Brown.
Anunoby is averaging 17 ppg while shooting 41% from the field and 47% from three-point range in the series. Bridges, while only averaging 11 ppg and shooting a dismal 29% and 31%, respectively, is the series iron man and defensive hero, playing 94 out of 96 total minutes and coming away with both game-ending plays in Boston. He’s also scoring in key moments, including dropping all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter of Game 2 when the Knicks made their incredible run to shock the Celtics.
While Brown and Tatum are outscoring the Knicks duo (21.5 ppg and 18 ppg, respectively), their shooting numbers have been horrendous (35% from the field, 18% from three and 29% and 25%).
And in the fourth quarter of both games, when energy and mental strength are required to push through fatigue, the Knicks are flourishing while the Celtics look spent.
See, when you play more minutes, you develop the stamina and mental confidence needed late in games, so apparently, Coach Thibs playing his starters extended minutes during the regular season is working.
But to win a series, especially as they get closer to the Finals, teams must have an “X” factor, someone who is playing above his regular- season stats and is doing the work that others aren’t.
Derrick White is trying to fill that role for Boston, averaging 19.5 ppg and 10 rpg in the series. His New York counterpart is the team’s other Nova Knick, Josh Hart, who is the Knicks’ second-leading scorer at 18.5 ppg and the second-leading rebounder with 8.5 rpg.
But while White is struggling with his shot (34% from the field, 29.6% from three), Hart is shooting 58% and 36%, respectively, and is also pulling down more offensive rebounds (8 vs 4).
In a series determined by only 4 points so far, these percentage points and extra chances matter.
So while most are focusing on the Celtics’ horrendous live and die by the three mantra, and are blasting Jayson Tatum for failing to perform like a superstar, they should instead give credit where credit is due and highlight the main reason why the series stands where it does.
The Knicks, like the city they represent, are built for this.
