Former GM Rates Knicks' Championship Chances

Executive-turned-analyst Scott Perry offered a self-assessment of his (partial) work with the New York Knicks.

Perry served as the Knicks' general manager from 2017 through 2023 and helped acquire some active contributors to the current championship chase such as Jalen Brunson, Miles McBride, and Mitchell Robinson.

Perry addressed such a cause on the latest episode of the Hoop Genius podcast hosted alongside Mo Mooncey, who asked if his former employers had a chance at representing the Eastern Conference in the upcoming NBA Finals. Despite the changes made since his departure, Perry isn't as optimistic, especially in a potential second-round set against the defending champion Boston Celtics.

How far can the Knicks go? Their ex-GM weighs in 🗽@ScottPerryGM pic.twitter.com/BGVbc0nPR7
— Hoop Genius (@HoopGenius) April 8, 2025

"When you use the word chance, yes, they have a chance," Perry said. "If both [Boston and New York] are fully healthy, I'm going to favor the Boston Celtics. They've been there, I just think they play extremely well together and they're better defensively than this Knicks team."

Entering Thursday night play, the Knicks rank 13th in defensive rating. That's respectable enough after placing ninth last season but the Celtics are tied for fifth as they go for consecutive titles.

"I'm going to always default to those groups that consistently defend," Perry said. "Both teams ... have capable scorers and can put points on the board. But when it gets down to crunch time and the shots aren't falling as well as you'd like them to fall, I'm going to lean toward that team that's more consistent on the defensive end, that being the Boston Celtics."

Knicks fans hardly need a reminder about their progress against the Celtics this season: they dropped the first three meetings of the year by a combined 63 points before taking Boston to overtime in Tuesday's series finale. An extra session, however, wasn't enough to reverse the trends, as the Knicks fell by a 119-117 final thanks in part to a 34-point showing from former franchise face Kristaps Porzingis.

Boston has had no issue scoring on the Knicks this season, scoring at least 118 points in each of the four meetings this season. The Celtics have sunk 84 three-pointers against New York this year, tying a single-season record for any Knicks opponent previously set by last year's Milwaukee Bucks.

The Knicks and Celtics both have some work to do before the seemingly destined second-round set: the Knicks have yet to clinch the third seed on the Eastern bracket (they can do so with a win or an Indiana Pacers loss) while Boston is locked into the second slot, which carries a matchup with the winner of the first Eastern Play-In Tournament game.

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