Category: Sports News

Can Joe Mazzulla find the winning formula again for the Celtics? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics were nearing the finish line of this year’s 56-win regular season, a campaign that far exceeded what most outsiders thought possible given the jarring roster changes.

But as we peppered head coach Joe Mazzulla with questions about the progress of all the players who elevated to larger roles, he turned introspective.

“I think that winning is obviously something that you’re going after, but you’re really going after the process of growth and the process of being in a competitive arena and having competition expose who you are as a person and a player — the good and the bad,” Mazzulla said. “And I think that journey is more fulfilling than the wins.”

It’s a quote that stuck with us, especially after Mazzulla’s team came unglued and fumbled away a 3-1 series lead against the Philadelphia 76ers en route to an unceremonious first-round playoff exit, staining what otherwise was an overachieving season.

In the aftermath of Boston’s collapse, Mazzulla again pondered the duality of his job.

He suggested he felt as empty after Boston’s 2024 title season as he did in the years when the team fell short of its perpetual championship goals. Now, he hinted at a struggle to balance the obvious pain of a disappointing finish with all the high points in the journey before it.

On Tuesday, Mazzulla could become the first Celtics coach to win NBA Coach of the Year since Bill Fitch in 1980. Mazzulla would be only the fourth Celtics coach to win the award, joining Fitch, Tommy Heinsohn (1972-73) and Red Auerbach (1964-65).

Receiving the honor in the aftermath of Boston’s early exit won’t sit well with Mazzulla, who routinely bristled at talk of the award during the season. Mazzulla, who would prefer the organization as a whole be lauded for its regular-season success, is likely focused on what’s ahead and not what’s behind him.

Competition exposes who you are — the good and the bad. And despite his overwhelming successes — guiding the team to Banner 18 in 2024, and all those regular-season wins — the 2026-27 season will force Mazzulla to prove yet again that he can learn and grow from notable missteps.

The coach who so routinely pushed all the right buttons while leaning on every player on his roster at various points of the 2025-26 season must assess why, for the third time in four years, he wasn’t always able to find the right combinations on the big stage.

Mazzulla’s .726 regular-season winning percentage ranks third among all Celtics coaches, trailing only K.C. Jones (.751 over five seasons) and Fitch (.738 in four seasons). Fold in the playoffs and only Jones (.729 winning percentage over 512 games) has a better winning percentage overall than Mazzulla (.711 over 385 games).

The numbers make it impossible to suggest that Mazzulla hasn’t routinely put his team in position to be successful. The Celtics stiff-armed any suggestion of a gap year in large part because Mazzulla leaned heavily into bringing the best out of the younger players on Boston’s roster.

The one question heading into next season, with a harsher spotlight on Mazzulla despite all his successes, is whether he can be quicker to embrace change on the playoff stage.

It does not seem unfair to suggest that Mazzulla can sometimes be stubborn. He’s firm in his beliefs and surely isn’t afraid to voice them. While it’s also much easier in hindsight to second-guess some of his playing-time decisions in the aftermath of recent playoff exits, there does seem to be one theme in Boston’s recent playoff demises, and that’s a slow trigger on changes.

For much of the 2025-26 season, Mazzulla leaned into his team’s depth and thrived by finding the combinations that gave the team the best chance to win on a night-to-night basis. As the Sixers series slipped away, Mazzulla was perhaps a bit slow to try the curveballs that he routinely mixed in during the regular season.

He waited until Game 7 to fully experiment, trotting out a unique and unproven starting five, giving rookie Hugo Gonzalez his first real minutes of the series, and finally shifting fully away from midseason acquisition Nikola Vucevic while leaning on smaller lineups.

During the 2025 playoffs, Kristaps Porzingis was a shell of himself while battling a mystery illness that sapped his energy and left him inefficient on the floor, yet Mazzulla gave him every opportunity to fight through. In 2023, the Celtics dug themselves an 0-3 hole in the East Finals against Miami, eliminating all margin for error the rest of the way before falling short when Jayson Tatum limped through Game 7 after an early ankle sprain.

Mazzulla’s overall coaching acumen is not in judgment here. His Xs and Os are fantastic and Boston’s after-timeout success routinely showcases his white-board wizardry. Mazzulla has elite feel for his team over the course of an 82-game season.

The question is simply whether can he get better at the chess match when the playoffs arrive.

For those who want to rail against Mazzulla’s play style, we’ll kindly push back. The term “Mazzulla Ball” has become the blanket term for Boston’s 3-point heavy offensive style. But we’d suggest that Mazzulla’s bigger focus is on the margins as a whole, and Boston’s 3-point totals are more of a reflection of the roster delivered to him.

Yes, Mazzulla needs to be better at imploring his players to generate additional looks near the basket when perimeter shots are not falling. But we shake our head at the, “Too many 3s!” crowd when it’s clear that Boston’s roster is constructed to maximize that math game.

If the Celtics want to increase rim attempts, it’s also on president of basketball operations Brad Stevens to craft a roster with players who are able to create better off the dribble and get inside the paint with more frequency. The best shot for the Celtics might still be a kick-out 3 in most instances.

Crush Mazzulla if you want for Boston’s struggles against Philadelphia after Joel Embiid returned — and we absolutely would have preferred to see him get more creative with lineups earlier than Game 7 — but the Celtics simply did not have the personnel to combat Embiid once he shook his initial rust.

Neemias Queta couldn’t stay out of foul trouble, while Vucevic and Luka Garza had known defensive deficiencies. The Celtics lost a ton of talent up front last summer and, even as Queta thrived in his first season as a starter, the depth deficiency came to roost on the big stage.

Mazzulla isn’t the first coach to run into some other familiar troubles with this core. Like Stevens and Ime Udoka before him, the Celtics have routinely struggled with prosperity, fumbling away big leads and being unable to put away opponents when they’re on the ropes.

Regardless of the reason, the coach is always the easy target when things go awry. That’s just part of the job. It’s a lot easier for most organizations to shuffle in a new coaching voice than make changes to the core of their lineup. Every coach in the NBA knows they have a finite shelf life.

Mazzulla loves embracing a challenge. He’s the one who phoned Derrick White on his birthday last summer, noted how he loved that everyone thought the Celtics would suck, then hung up. Mazzulla used the gap-year suggestion as motivation to prove the doubters wrong.

The skeptics remain after the Celtics’ early playoff exit. Even Banner 18 doesn’t buy you much of a grace period in these parts. This is another chance for Mazzulla to embrace the journey, embrace some changes, and reaffirm why he’s a championship coach.

The Houston Rockets’ offseason plans haven’t been made clear. The Rockets could go in a number of directions, as they’ve got glaring roster needs.

Last season’s team lacked playmaking guards, not to mention the Rockets’ lack of outside shooters. The Rockets lost the math game essentially every night. And they could use more shot makers (and shot takers) in general. 

From a roster standpoint, the team needs major upgrades. They can’t expect another season like this from Kevin Durant.

And they can’t expect Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams to make all the difference and fill all of the voids. They’ve even admitted that.

However, the messaging regarding what Houston intends to do this summer has been very inconsistent, especially if you’ve been keeping up with General Manager Rafael Stone’s media appearances since Houston’s early postseason exit.

During Houston’s end of season presser, Stone essentially stated that Houston would be running it back, save for marginal moves intended to shore up the tail end of the roster. 

“In terms of the roster, we’ll look at everything and look at all potential deals but we think that the players in our locker room can win alot of games and be very competitive. 

We have players coming back from injury that will help us. If we bring back largely the same group, continuity will help us.”

Stone and Ime Udoka sat side by side and emphasized the importance of internal growth from the Rockets’ younger players, across the board. Udoka’s quote is below.

“For us, I think improvement across the board with our young guys…not making any changes, that’s growth from those guys. Getting everybody back healthy, that’s part of it.”

Stone then joined the Ryen Russilo podcast and seemingly said something entirely different. 

“Hopefully, we get healthy and we’ll work really hard this summer at bolstering the roster. Maybe there’s things we can do that help us a little bit and come back next year and hopefully we’re a much better team.”

Perhaps this is all just a matter of conjuring. Maybe Stone doesn’t want to show his hand. 

Understandably. 

Once you make it known that you’re looking to move a player, they lose value, as an asset. Because teams know you’re ultimately wanting to rid yourself of said asset and they may not be as inclined to offer top value.

The messaging has certainly been inconsistent and a bit difficult to follow, regarding whether the Rockets intend to run it back or make an aggressive, franchise-defining move. They likely want to find another bargain, like last year’s deal for Kevin Durant. 

That seems unlikely. Especially on the star front.

Donovan Mitchell and/or Giannis Antetokounmpo — the stars on the market this summer — won’t come cheap. It’s been suggested that Houston could try to make a move at those players.

Regardless, Houston’s brass can’t afford to simply run it back and bank on internal improvement and/or development. They’re going to have to be active, if they hope to get on the same tier as the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs — who sit atop the Western Conference. 

An NBA season can end in many ways.

For about half of the league, the season ends without ever really beginning. Teams that finish in the lottery or lose in the Play-In Tournament never had much on the line.

Losing in the actual playoffs can vary. A hard-fought exit for a young team like the Toronto Raptors is still encouraging. A brutal 3-1 collapse from a title contender in Boston is harrowing, but they have enough championship DNA to feel good about running it back.

But then, there are the teams that get humbled. The ones who have to swallow some reality pills.

It’s hard to feel good about anything that comes on the wrong side of a sweep, and that only gets worse the deeper you go in the postseason.

For the Cleveland Cavaliers, I’m not sure a clearer message could have been sent in the Eastern Conference Finals: This team isn’t good enough.

Let’s start by adding context.

Getting this far is hard

Making it to the Eastern Conference Finals is an achievement. It’s not the ultimate goal, of course, but an accomplishment nonetheless. This was only the ninth time in 56 years that Cleveland made it to the final four. That means something.

It’s more impressive considering this team was put together on the fly. Darius Garland, De’Andre Hunter, and Lonzo Ball were all supposed to be key contributors to this team. All of which were shipped out in February, leaving the newcomers only a few weeks to acclimate themselves to Cleveland.

Teams that make a blockbuster move at the deadline rarely go deep into the playoffs. Inserting James Harden into the lineup and managing to go this far in the postseason is an anomaly. Again, that’s worth something.

But it still wasn’t good enough.

The Cavs hit the ground running in round one. They surged to a 2-0 series lead over the Raptors, riding the momentum of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden. The two-shot creators looked ready to rewrite the narratives around their playoff shortcomings and hit no hitches in their first two playoff games together.

That didn’t last.

Mitchell and Harden hit a wall in Toronto. They struggled to generate quality offense without turning it over or relying entirely on the outside shot. This would prove to be the theme throughout the rest of the playoffs, causing them to play seven games against a Raptors team that was missing multiple starters and then later failing to close out a reeling Pistons team.

“I tell you what didn’t help was losing those two Game 6’s,” said Kenny Atkinson. “I’ve been in this a long time, and you have to take advantage of those opportunities.”

Overcoming adversity and winning two Game 7s is encouraging. It’s a step forward for this squad. But it was also a sign that this team isn’t as close as they should be. Good teams don’t play with their food.

The Eastern Conference Finals confirmed that.

Shut Out by New York

The Cavs had to battle through two grueling seven-game series to get here. That begged the question, how much gas would they have left? The answer, after blowing a 22-point lead in Game 1, was none.

“We didn’t give ourselves a chance,” said Mitchell. “You can’t play with your food. We had an opportunity to close both [previous] series and give ourselves a rest.”

Cleveland jumped out to an early lead and then gradually played worse as the series went on. New York controlled every facet by the end, working harder, playing smarter, and providing solutions for anything the Cavs threw at them.

Conversely, the Cavs had nothing to fall back on. They aren’t an elite defense, falling outside of the top 10 this season for the first time since emerging as a playoff team. They also took a step backwards offensively, finishing the season 13th in three-point percentage after being a historically efficient squad last year.

That all rang true throughout the series as New York blew the doors off offensively while the Cavs failed to ever muster up a counter punch.

“I don’t think we even had a chance, not giving our best punch,” said Harden. “We didn’t even play a quarter of Cavs basketball.”

They were defeated through and through. I’m not sure holding on in Game 1 would have made a meaningful difference.

“Go through the other games, and look at the totality of it, and they pretty much dominated,” said Aktinson.

New York has won 11 straight playoff games. They’ve done it with the greatest offensive stretch of basketball in postseason history. That didn’t happen just because they shot the cover off the ball (they did), but because they properly adjusted to every moment of adversity and had an identity to fall back on.

Jalen Brunson and the Knicks don’t need three-pointers to beat you. They can get downhill, score from the mid-range, get to the free-throw line, or punish you with their passing. And while Brunson, for example, isn’t a great defender, the effort he puts into not being picked on was far greater than either Mitchell or Harden showed. That gives you a higher floor to work with.

That wasn’t true for Cleveland. The Cavs, who finished 13th in three-point percentage, launched over 150 three-pointers in this series and converted on fewer than 30% of them. That’s an indication that no one knows what this team is supposed to turn to when things get tough. They just kept firing away from deep, praying the results would change.

Again, how you end a season can tell you a lot.

The Cavs didn’t just get swept; they were run off their home floor in an elimination game. A night that was over almost as soon as the jump ball was thrown into the air. Championship-caliber teams don’t do that.

Season Conclusion

This type of exit means more than Cleveland’s previous losses. They weren’t injured. They didn’t underperform against a team that’s going nowhere. They measured themselves up against a legit contender and found out they don’t even come close to meeting the mark.

The writing was on the wall for most of the season. Cleveland wore their weaknesses on their sleeve and stayed committed to a process that no longer matched the personnel on the roster. They never came close to finding the joy, pace, or unselfish ball movement that defined their success a year ago. That finally led to their end versus New York.

The individual talent on this roster allowed the Cavs to overachieve in many ways. They made it farther than most. But the cohesion and willingness to adapt are what made the Knicks a significantly better basketball team. You can’t fake what they had — and the Cavs clearly didn’t have it.

Perhaps this is another stepping stone towards the end goal. That’s what the Cavs are hoping, anyway. Harden and Mitchell both ended their media availability by re-committing to the franchise and each other.

“I’m sorry for the city of Cleveland, for it to be like this in a sweep,” said Mitchell. “We have unfinished business. The city deserves a ring.”

It will take a whole lot of work to back that up.

Everything is tied up heading into Game Five of the Western Conference Finals. The San Antonio Spurs played stout defense against the Oklahoma City Thunder on their way to a 103-82 victory in Game Four. Now the Spurs need to win two of the next three games, including one on the road, to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014.

San Antonio made a major adjustment in the Game Four win. The Spurs doubled Shai Gilgeous-Alexander early and often in the first three games of the series. That may have neutralized SGA’s impact to an extent, but it also led to more open shots for the Thunder’s role players. In Game Four, the Spurs guarded Gilgeous-Alexander 1-on-1 and sent light help on drives. The result was a 19-point game for SGA and a 6-33 night from deep for OKC.

The playoffs are all about adjustments and counter-adjustments. The Thunder will certainly come out with a solution to San Antonio’s defense. They’ll have to do it without key ball-handlers. Ajay Mitchell is out with a calf strain, and Jalen Williams is questionable as he deals with his hamstring injury.

Every playoff game is a “must-win,” but Game Five feels particularly important. Defeating a shorthanded OKC squad on the road with two chances to clinch the series would put the Spurs in a strong position to advance to the Finals. They’ll need another dominant defensive performance to steal Game Five on the road.

San Antonio Spurs (2-2) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (2-2)

May 26th, 2026 | 7:30 PM CT

Watch: NBC / Peacock | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)

Spurs Injuries: No injuries to report.

Thunder Injuries: Thomas Sorber – Out (knee), Ajay Mitchell – Out (calf), Jalen Williams – Questionable (hamstring)

What to watch for:

Interior scoring

The Spurs outscored the Thunder in the paint 50-36 in Game Four. So far in the playoffs, if San Antonio can control the battle on the interior, they typically can win the game. The Thunder have been good at keeping Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs’ guards from dominating inside. In Game Four, Wembanyama was able to score through or over Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren, while the guards did a better job getting downhill, particularly in the pick-and-roll. Outscoring the Thunder inside again will be crucial to winning Game Five.

Limiting turnovers

The best part about having De’Aaron Fox back in the lineup is the calming presence he brings alongside Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper. San Antonio has been much better at valuing possessions since Fox returned to the lineup in Game Three. The Spurs had just 13 turnovers in Game Four. OKC is at its best when it can create turnovers and score easy buckets in transition. San Antonio’s defense is already suffocating enough. They can’t give the Thunder breaks by turning the ball over and letting them get easy shots.

Champagnie’s shooting

Julian Champagnie has been ice-cold in the Conference Finals. He’s shooting 19.4% from three-point range in the series. San Antonio desperately needs him to start hitting shots. The Thunder have loaded up on Wembanyama and the Spurs’ guards. Devin Vassell has taken advantage of the lack of defensive attention. If Champagnie can follow suit, San Antonio’s offense could be set for an explosion in Game Five.

The New York Knicks reached the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years with a commanding 130-93 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Knicks continued their fine form as they swept the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals 4-0 and extended their franchise record play-off win streak to 11 games.

Karl-Anthony Towns led the Knicks' scoring with 19 points and 14 rebounds, while the series' Most Valuable Player Jalen Brunson added 15.

The Knicks, whose only NBA titles came in 1970 and 1973, last reached the NBA Finals in 1999 when they lost 4-1 against the San Antonio Spurs.

Brunson, 29, was just two years old at the time, but his father Rick - who is now an assistant coach at the franchise - was a guard on the team.

"It means a lot, but I wouldn't be here without my team-mates, the belief they had in me," said Brunson.

"They give me the confidence. They let me be me. Most importantly, we all believe in each other from top to bottom. It's an honour to play with them."

The Knicks will face either defending champions Oklahoma City Thunder or the Spurs in next month's showpiece, with the teams tied at 2-2 in the Western Conference finals.

Landry Shamet, who scored 16 points and netted all four of his three-pointer attempts, said his side are remaining focused on the "larger goal" rather than dwelling on their victory over the Cavaliers.

"We've got four more wins to try and go get and we know it's going to be even harder. Being in this position with this team, it's pretty special," he said.

If the Knicks continue their unbeaten run and sweep the finals, they will equal the NBA's record play-off win streak of 15 set by the Golden State Warriors in 2017.

The Knicks ended the first quarter with an 8-0 run and began the second with 12 unanswered points to lead 50-26.

Shamet's third three-pointer later put the Knicks 61-32 up and they never looked back, overwhelming the Cavs after half-time with 22 turnovers.

Donovan Mitchell top-scored for the Cavs with 31 points.

Game five of the Western Conference finals takes place on Tuesday (01:30 BST Wednesday).

CLEVELAND — Four years later, nobody is questioning that $104 million contract the Knicks gave to Jalen Brunson.

Looking back now, it was a bargain.

Brunson has the Larry Bird Trophy, given to the MVP of the Eastern Conference finals, as proof.

In his fourth postseason as a Knick, Brunson led the franchise back to the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years, capped by their emphatic series sweep of the Cavaliers on Monday night.

“The belief that the organization has in me has been amazing, and something I don’t take for granted, and something not a lot of people get the opportunity to do,” Brunson said after notching 15 points and five assists in the 130-93 clincher over the Cavaliers in Game 4. “So I’m very thankful. It’s an honor to be here in this city for this organization with my teammates.”

Brunson set the tone in the series opener, exploding for 38 points and rallying the Knicks from a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit. Overall, he averaged 25.5 points and 7.8 assists in the sweep.

Brunson has changed so much for the Knicks during a short period. In the 21 years before his arrival, they won just a single playoff series. Since his arrival, they have claimed seven and will pursue their first championship since 1973 starting next week, against either the Spurs or Thunder.

Before the game, coach Mike Brown was asked if Brunson’s leadership reminds him of anyone he had coached, and he didn’t hesitate: Tim Duncan and Stephen Curry.

“The aura that those guys have, the quiet strength that they have, is unbelievable,” Brown said.

High praise for the Knicks captain — praise he has earned since he joined the franchise four years ago this summer. 

CLEVELAND - In some ways, it’s fitting that Leon Rose and the Knicks are headed to the NBA Finals after knocking out Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers. 

Rose’s decision to pass on trading for Mitchell was one of the biggest pivot points of this Knicks era. 

Remember: New York had the draft picks and the personnel to obtain Mitchell from Utah. But Rose ultimately decided that he didn’t want to meet Danny Ainge’s asking price. 

At the time, it was a controversial decision. 

In hindsight, it’s one of several pivotal choices by Rose that helped the Knicks ascend to the NBA Finals. 

Instead of trading a package centered around RJ Barrett for Mitchell, Rose and his group moved Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and a second round pick to Toronto for OG Anunoby.

Anunoby has been one of the best players in the postseason. He had 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in the Knicks’ closeout win over Cleveland on Monday. 

Instead of using multiple first-round picks to acquire Mitchell, Rose sent most of his draft capital to Brooklyn in a trade for Mikal Bridges. 

Rose took a ton of criticism for the trade, particularly when the Knicks had a chance to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo the following summer. 

So, of course, Bridges made play after play on the defensive end throughout the postseason. He also found ways to attack within the flow of the Knick offense. He and Anunoby have peaked at the best possible time. 

If they’d traded for Mitchell, there’s virtually no way they would have signed Donte DiVincenzo the next summer. And without DiVincenzo, the Knicks would’ve needed to use more draft capital to acquire Karl-Anthony Towns from Minnesota. 

This was another trade that was criticized and questioned, but Towns on Monday hit 8-of-11 shots and grabbed 14 rebounds. 

The Cavs cut the Knick lead to 16 at one point in the third quarter. Towns then went to work, blocking a shot on one end and then knocking down a three-pointer on the other end. Anunoby found Bridges for a wide-open three on the Knicks’ next possession. 

That sequence took the life out of any Cleveland comeback. 

Shortly after the trophy presentation, Rose spent a quiet moment with his family. Like the rest of the Knicks, Rose seemed to see Monday’s win as a major accomplishment -- but not one worth a raucous celebration. 

Maybe that celebration will come in a couple weeks, but the fact that the Knicks are where they are today -- preparing for a trip to the NBA Finals -- is a testament to Rose’s determination and decision-making. 

A few weeks ago, the Knicks executive did not receive a vote from his peers for the Executive of the Year award. It’s a regular-season award, and the Knicks had an uneven regular season. 

But if you took another vote today, the results would look much different. Rose would probably be at or near the top, which is where his Knicks sit after this remarkable playoff run.  

The road to get here wasn’t always easy, but the Knicks are headed to their first NBA Finals since 1999 after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night, and they are peaking at just the right time.

After going down 2-1 to the Hawks in the first round, New York has rattled off 11 straight wins and has a +272 point-differential over that span. It’s been one of the most dominant stretches not just in Knicks history, but NBA history, and it all starts with head coach Mike Brown who saw his team start playing a this version of basketball towards the end of the regular season.

“Down the stretch, like 6 or 7 games to go, after Landry [Shamet] got back, I started to see us play some good basketball and do more things that were selfless or more sacrificing from the group,” Brown said. “Throughout the course of the season you have your ups and you have your downs, and you have your good and your bad and your adversity that you have to fight through. Sometimes we got through it quickly, sometimes it took us a minute to figure it out.”

The trials and tribulations that the Knicks have faced not just this season but in postseason’s past where they got close to their final destination but couldn’t get over the hump has prepared them for this moment. 

Even Brown, in his first season in New York, saw that the team had what it takes to get the job done.

“From afar, I just felt that this team was ready,” he said. “And I’m just thrilled to death that Mr. Dolan gave me an opportunity and Leon Rose gave me an opportunity to be a head coach again, especially here in New York.”

Brown had been a head coach for the Sacramento Kings for two full seasons and helped turn the franchise around before getting fired in the middle of last season. 

He’s also no stranger to reaching the finals as he was an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors for six seasons at the height of their dynasty. Therefore, he knows what it takes to finish the job and has been doing what he can to set his players up for success.

“Our group is playing good basketball and they’re doing it in different ways,” Brown said. “They’re doing it differently, depending on who our opponent is and when you show that type of versatility on both ends of the floor, it adds to your belief. 

“I’ve said it before, you use the regular season to get ready for the postseason and our guys did a hell of a job with that.”

“This team is hungry and that’s the most important thing,” added Karl-Anthony Towns. “Even with an amazing, historical win we had tonight, the celebrations were minimal. We really want to get back to work. [We] asked coach can we get back to work quick.”

While the Knicks will and certainly deserve to celebrate their incredible accomplishment of reaching their first NBA finals in more than two decades, they know their ultimate goal is still out there.

However, it’s now within their grasps and closer than it’s ever been for them.

“It feels good. We’re excited, we’re happy we won, but we’re also not satisfied,” said OG Anunoby. “We’re gonna celebrate tonight, but then once tomorrow comes, start resting and preparing for the next round.”

If New York is able to defeat either the San Antonio Spurs or the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals, it’ll be the franchise’s first championship since 1973. But the way they’re playing right now – the best they’ve played all season – the Knicks should be considered the favorites.

“We’ve gotten to this point because we worked together, we’ve been a team, we’ve been unified,” Towns said. “The collective group has shown up in spots when we need to.”