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Knicks Keep Wild Parity Streak Going With Series Win

The New York Knicks sustained a rather unlikely streak around the NBA after eliminating the Boston Celtics.

Henry Brown

May 16, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) celebrates his three point shot against the Boston Celtics during the fourth quarter of game six in the second round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
May 16, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) celebrates his three point shot against the Boston Celtics during the fourth quarter of game six in the second round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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The New York Knicks made their most recent Eastern Conference Finals in 2000, the same year that Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson kickstarted the Los Angeles Lakers' three-peat.

While those Knicks fell short of a big-market clash against the Lakers in the NBA Finals, falling to defeat Reggie Miller's Indiana Pacers to kickstart a quarter-century of franchise misery, the league changed. Not only has no one three-peated since those Lakers, but even winning back-to-back titles has proven impossible throughout the 2020s.

Gone are the Golden State dynasties appearing in the finals every year and LeBron James dragging his team to the doorstep season after season. The league is so talented that attempts at repeat titles don't even come close anymore, with this postseason marking the sixth-straight year that the defending champion won't even make it back to the conference finals.

The Knicks dealt the finishing blow to the hampered Boston Celtics on Friday night in a slow, 119-81 death, making their grand return to the NBA's final four while disposing of yet another contender attempting to go for the repeat title win.

The Celtics spent all season as a presumed favorite , sleepwalking to another 60-plus win season in what otherwise looked like an unimpressive Eastern Conference. They, along with the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, each bowed out in this second round, opening the door for a coincidental Knicks-Pacers rematch with ties to the past and the present that no one expected in solidifying the randomness of the modern playoffs.

Their dreams of a title seem very real, as their more star-studded lineup and home-court advantage give them a real shot against the tough and deep Pacers, and a brief look ahead reveals a matchup between the inconsistent Minnesota Timberwolves and whoever comes out on top of the seven-game slugfest between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Denver Nuggets.

Windows are opening and shutting quicker than ever, and the Knicks have as good of a shot at taking home their first title in 52 years if they keep their collective foot on the gas. Championship pedigree means something, but not nearly as much as it used to in today's NBA.

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Henry Brown
HENRY BROWN

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