Not a single basketball fan would ever believe that the New York Knicks would make it to the NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals coming into the 2025 NBA Season. One could never possibly imagine the Knicks coming back in the opening two games of the series on the road against the defending champions, the Boston Celtics, while overcoming a twenty-point deficit each time. Yet, this is exactly what happened, and these two games have, without a doubt, been the largest surprises and highlights of the 2025 NBA Playoffs. However, the Knicks’ road to these sudden breakout performances has been an arduous one, paved by trials and tribulations.
Just a decade ago, the Knicks were the biggest laughing stock of not just the NBA, but the sports world as a whole. From 2014-2020, New York was flatout terrible, never coming close to making the playoffs, and consistently one of, if not, the worst team in the league. The Knicks could not get away from finding themselves at the end of relentless memes, jokes, and ridicule from the sports media. They had not a single star player, or even a very good player at all for that matter. Every year the Knicks were led by another monotonous, failing head coach that could not deal with New York for another season. The Knicks were hopelessly in turmoil.
Tom “Tibbs” Thibodeau was hired by the Knicks in 2021 with no expectations. Tibbs was angered to see one of the richest sports franchises in such peril, and was willing to turn the Knicks around to championship contenders by any means necessary. Thibodeau boldly cleared out most of the existing roster, arguing for a fresh start and a team of winners. The only player in today’s rotation he kept on the team was Mitchell Robinson, a rebounding center off the bench. Tibbs got to work by reassembling a trio of underrated, underpaid rising stars who won a national championship in 2016 with Villanova: superstar Jalen Brunson, who is currently one of the best point guards in the NBA, and the very good Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges, a shooting guard and small forward who compliment each other and Brunson perfectly.
Results began to show in Thibodeau’s first season as he won the 2021 NBA Coach of the Year while the Knicks were making the playoffs once again. Over the next few years, Tibbs needed to add more depth to his squad, so he traded for rising star power forward OG Anunoby and veteran backup point guard Cameron Payne. Thibodeau also made the decision to draft Miles McBride, a scrappy shooting guard with a very bright future in the coming years of his career in New York. This roster helped the Knicks win their first playoff series in over a decade in 2023 and again in 2024, getting through the First Round but falling short in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
It was clear that New York was one large step away from truly becoming a championship contender. Tibbs knew that what they needed was a superstar big man to aid his other superstar in Jalen Brunson. In the biggest move of the 2025 Offseason, the Knicks traded several of their former role players to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Karl Anthony-Towns. Towns fully completed the Knicks, and Thibodeau at last had a full rotation where the sky was the limit. Brunson, The 5x NBA All-Star Towns and 2025 NBA Clutch Player of the Year, instantly became arguably the best guard-big duo in the league. The two powered New York to a 51-31 record, which would land the Knicks the third seed in the Eastern Conference for the playoffs.
In the NBA Playoffs First Round, the Knicks faced the sixth seeded Detroit Pistons. Despite splitting the first two games in New York, the Knicks edged out both Game Three and Game Four in Detroit by both two points or less. After barely falling short at home in Game Five, the Knicks stole Game Six in Detroit on a game-winning three pointer in the final seconds by Brunson. With this, New York won the game 106-103, and the series 4-2. This success sent the Knicks to the Eastern Conference Semifinals to face the NBA’s most feared and difficult team.
The Boston Celtics are the NBA’s current reigning champions, and hold the most championships in NBA history with eighteen banners. Their home stadium, the Boston Garden, is widely regarded as the hardest basketball venue to play as the away team. The Celtics are by far the most part a genuinely flawless basketball team. Led by their all-star dynamic duo of forwards Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Boston was also aided by sharpshooter Derrick White, lockdown point guard Jrue Holiday, and their aged, but reliable, center Al Hortford. Boston had the second seed in the Eastern Conference, but were still favored to repeat as NBA Champions once again. The sports media saw the Knicks as merely a warmup for the Celtics on their way to the NBA Finals. With Boston playing at home for Game One on May 5, 2025, the Celtics were listed as nine point favorites with a 69% chance of winning. Little did the basketball world know what would unfold before their eyes over the course of this game.
For the first two and a half quarters of Game One, everything seemed to be going as planned. The entire Boston squad was dominating New York 75-55 with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter, and the Boston Garden was booming. The Knicks needed a miracle, and it began with OG Anunoby who quickly nailed back-to-back three-pointers off of defensive rebounds to stop the bleeding for New York. Brunson quickly got into a rhythm of his own while attacking the rim, hitting short pull-up jumpers, and even drilling an on-the-run triple from downtown. After some more free throws from Anunoby, the Knicks were only down 84-75 entering the fourth quarter, yet the Celtics and their fans remained confident and collected.
New York came out swinging in the fourth, with an 8-0 run created by scored McBride, Towns, and Anunoby to cut Boston’s lead down to one. The Boston Garden was no longer roaring. With seven minutes to go, Anunoby intercepted Jayson Tatum’s pass and took it all the way for a two-handed slam dunk to tie the game up at 86. For the next few minutes Brunson could not be guarded by the Celtics, with three straight crossover, step-back triples hitting nothing but net. This taking over of the game brought the Knicks ahead 97-91 with three minutes remaining. Boston was too disciplined to go away this easily though, as Tatum sank four straight free throws in the final minute, while a clutch Derrick White three-pointer tied the game up at 100 with ten seconds left. A heavily contested floater from Brunson rolled in and out of the rim, and the relieved Celtics crowd celebrated that they hung on for a five-minute overtime.
The Knicks began the overtime on a literal bang, with Anunoby dunking on Jayson Tatum while fouled for an and-one slam, hitting the free throw as well. A crucial triple was nailed from deep by Mikal Bridges minutes later, followed by a tip-in layup by Towns to put New York ahead 108-100 with two minutes to go with all of the game’s momentum in their hands. After Tatum scored a quick layup and Jaylen Brown hit a rushed three-pointer as time was running low, Boston was only by a triple with three seconds to go. They tried to look for Brown with a full-court pass, but Bridges stripped the ball from the off-balance Brown as the final buzzer sounded. The Knicks pulled off the impossible, coming back to win 108-105 in overtime.
The sports world was sent into pandemonium following the remarkable performance by New York. Back at home, Knicks fans were going wild at the watch party right outside of Madison Square Garden. The team effort led by Brunson and Anunoby anchored by clutch two-way play by Bridges sent New York into Game Two on May 7, 2025 with more momentum than ever. Expected to bounce back from their humiliating loss in Game One, the home-team Celtics were listed as eleven point favorites with a 58% percent chance of equalizing the series. Most believed that the Knicks’ previous win was fake and that Boston let the game fall through their fingertips.
For nearly the first three quarters of Game Two, those opinions could not have been more validated, as the Celtics were outplaying the Knicks in every aspect all throughout the game to lead 73-53 with three minutes remaining until the fourth quarter. This time around, Miles McBride would set the spark for the Knicks in the third quarter’s final minutes with a one-handed slam and a three-pointer, to which Josh Hart added on to with a triple of his own, both of which were assisted by Brunson. These small plays enabled New York with a chance to steal Game Two as they already know how to, while the Knicks only trailed 73-61.
While Boston reasserted their dominance with various buckets, they were matched each time by Mikal Bridges, who hit three consecutive jumpers from all around the court to keep the Knicks’ head above the water, but still losing 84-68 with nine minutes left to play. Something had to change for New York to have a chance at recreating their previous heroics. So instead of rushing on offense, the Knicks deliberately chose to take pride in playing the best defense they have in years. For eight straight minutes, New York played flawless defense on Boston, and held them completely scoreless for this time. The Celtics panicked as fans at the Boston Garden watched in silence as the Celtics missed twelve straight horrible field goal attempts.
This terrific defensive play gave the Knicks time to settle down and take control on offense. Bridges got on a roll once again, with two quick layups and a sidestep three-pointer to bring the Knicks down just 84-77. Then, Brunson and Towns played their best basketball all season as a duo, and were completely unguardable off the pick-and-roll. The Celtics were either forced to not cover one of the two all-stars enough, and the New York duo was getting strong layups and short jumpers time after time. At last White and Tatum ended Boston’s slump with some free throws, but the Knicks were now leading 89-88 with forty seconds to go.
As New York tried to use up as much of the clock as possible, a stepback triple from Brunson would have been the dagger, but rimmed out into the hands of Tatum, who ferociously took the ball the full length of the court for a ferocious slam dunk. The Celtics were inevitably leading once again, and the Boston Garden was erupting louder than ever. WIth the ball in his hands as time ran down, Brunson drew a shooting foul on Holiday with twelve seconds on the clock to shoot two free throws. Unfazed by the tens of thousands of screaming fans, Brunson nailed both free throws perfectly. On a final last-ditch attempt by the Celtics, Tatum drew in the entire Knicks defense as he attacked the hoop, and while trying to kick out to Brown for a potential game-winner, his pass was snagged by Bridges as the final seconds ran off. History miraculously repeated itself as the Knicks stole Game Two in a 91-90 legendary victory.
Following these incredible wins, the series would go back to New York for Game Three and Game Four, which the Knicks and Celtics split. Leading 3-1 with a chance to close it out on the road, New York lost Game Five to Boston who at last won a game at home. NBA fans now await Game Six of this dramatic and captivating series. The Knicks will be playing at Madison Square Garden at 8:00 pm on May 16, 2025. Let us all hope that the New York Knicks can continue on this magical, awaited ride of playoff excellence with a win at home to send them to the Eastern Conference Finals in front of their highly loyal, energetic, and journeyed fanbase.
