When the New York Knicks were down 1-2 to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the discussion around the team was focused on a player not even on their roster: Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Would the Milwaukee Bucks trade Antetokounmpo to the Knicks for some of their top players and some draft capital? Maybe then, if the Knicks had a true, legitimate top-five player in basketball alongside Jalen Brunson, New York could make the NBA Finals.
Three weeks later, and no one in New York City cares about Antetokounmpo or any trades. Most fans would have a riot outside of Madison Square Garden if OG Anunoby were even rumored to be in trade talks this offseason.
The Knicks never looked back after going down in the Atlanta series, finishing that series by blowing them out by 50 points before destroying the Philadelphia 76ers in four games and doing the same to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference final.
It’s not that the Knicks are in the NBA Finals, but how they’ve done it, putting up multiple blowout victories to, on paper, be the scariest team we’ve ever witnessed walk into the championship round.
Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls? The Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal Los Angeles Lakers? Forgot them, the Knicks are blowing out the opposition like they’re playing against high school competition.
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Heading into the final against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder or the surging San Antonio Spurs, led by 7-foot-4 generational talent Victor Wembanyama, the narrative seemed written before the East finals even started.
The West team would win the “real” NBA Finals, and the Knicks, playing David, would take on possibly a literal Goliath in Wembanyama.
But that shouldn’t be the storyline at all going into the championship, which feels like it will have the most excitement since Steph Curry and LeBron James went head-to-head a decade ago.
This Knicks team has one of the deepest offenses we’ve ever witnessed in the postseason, and although it isn’t sustainable for an entire season, New York doesn’t need them to be.
If they can play at the level they’re currently playing and shooting at for four more games, the history of the New York Knicks will change forever.
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