Knicks Have Major Key to Win vs. Celtics

The New York Knicks will need to be strong in one particular area in order to beat the Boston Celtics.

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson during the second half against the Boston Celtics. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | John Jones-Imagn Images

The New York Knicks will need to do a lot if they want to beat the defending champion Boston Celtics in their second round series.

The Athletic insider James Edwards III revealed what the Knicks need to do to find a way to win some games.

"The Knicks have to find a way to play fast consistently. They were at their best in the series against the Pistons when defending and rebounding at a high level," Edwards wrote.

"Obviously, upping the pace starts with getting stops far more frequently than they did against the Celtics during the regular season. With that, they also need to be strong on the defensive glass. Boston ranked 10th during the regular season with 11.4 offensive rebounds per game. New York ranked 25th during the regular season with 31.8 rebounds per game — and it averaged even fewer per game (30.8) once Mitchell Robinson made his season debut on Feb. 28. The Celtics offense is too potent to allow Boston to get multiple opportunities to score."

The Celtics find a way to rebound a lot due to their long shots from the 3-point line. In order for the Knicks to mitigate that, it comes down to the fundamentals of boxing out and simply wanting to crash the glass more than the opponent. The effort could be a massive difference in the series.

The team also needs to find ways to get out in transition quickly. Perhaps they can take advantage of Boston's older players that may be a little banged up going into the series, like Jrue Holiday.

The Celtics haven't played in nearly a week, so the Knicks could look to possibly catch them rusty at the start of the series. That could help the Knicks get home court advantage back in their favor, which will need to happen if New York wants to win the series.

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