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JJ: “Will The Garden Party Continue In The Eastern Conference Finals?”

BQE Admin on May 20, 2025

By John Jastremski

For the first time in 25 years, the New York Knicks are playing in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Last Friday night, the Knicks sent the Celtics packing for Cancun with a performance that will live forever in Knicks lure.

The Knicks finished off the Celtics in a wire to wire, resounding 119-81 victory and to be honest the final score doesn’t even do the beatdown justice.

The Knicks finished off the defending champs, who lost star Jayson Tatum after Game 4 due to a devastating achilles injury, but that said, don’t let the Tatum injury take away from the Knicks vibes of the past series.

The Knicks were cruising to a 3-1 series lead advantage before the injury took place late in the 4th quarter.

They were the better team in the series and that was obvious in almost every single 4th quarter of the series.

Now, the Knicks are four wins away from a place they have not been since 1999. The NBA Finals.

How appropriate is it that the team that’s standing in their way of an Eastern Conference Crown is the same team that knocked out the Knicks a year ago.

The Indiana Pacers.

Make no mistake, the Pacers are a very dangerous team.

They are 9 plus deep in their rotation, they place a ridiculously fast pace that is tough to contend with and Rick Carlisle is one of the best coaches in the NBA.

In addition, Tyrese Haliburton has emerged as one of the game’s biggest stars and has been lights out this entire postseason despite some of the “overrated” criticism that was thrown his way earlier in the season.

The Knicks will have their hands full with the Pacers, but there’s a lot to like coming into the series.

The Knicks toughness and defensive intensity is an element that the Pacers have not matched up with quite yet this postseason run.

In addition, the Knicks did not have Karl Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges in their series a year ago.

Both Towns and Bridges had brilliant regular season games against the Pacers in the regular season.

I expect both to pay major dividends in this series.

The Pacers will be a formidable opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals. However, with the grit and toughness of this Knicks group combined with the fact that they have Jalen Brunson who is the best player in the series, it’s impossible for me to go against the wave.

Knicks in a hard fought 7 games.

And if that happens, oh baby what a party on 7th avenue will it be.

You can listen to my podcast New York, New York on The Ringer Podcast Network on Spotify/Apple Podcasts following every Knicks ECF Game. You can watch me nightly on Honda Sports Nite following the Mets postgame on SNY.

Using House Money

webadmin on May 19, 2021

The last two decades haven’t exactly been a whole lot of fun if you are a fan of the New York Knicks.
Plenty of dysfunction combined with a whole lot of losing put the franchise in a predicament going into the 2020-2021 season, where the bar was set perhaps at an all-time low.
The Knicks season win total in Vegas for a 70-plus game season was in the low 20’s and expectations were minimal.
Well, a lot has changed in a year.
The Knicks hired Tom Thibodeau last summer, and in many ways he’s the true architect of this remarkable franchise turnaround.
Coach Thibs established a culture, and his players bought. It became obvious very early in the season that this team was not going to be the Same Old Knicks.
The Knicks compete nightly. The players have taken on the personality of their hardworking head coach.
Team MVP Julius Randle put together an All-Star season and the best of his professional career. RJ Barrett made a gigantic leap from a solid rookie season to an even better second year.
The professionalism of Derrick Rose combined with the shot-making ability of Immanuel Quickley and Alec Burks has provided much needed competence in the back court.
The fact that you can pinpoint the growth and development of multiple players on the roster throughout the season speaks volumes to the job the coaching staff has done.
The Knicks defense has been the calling card of this team all season, but look at the improvements regarding ball movement and three-point shooting.
The improved offensive play has been the catalyst to their incredible surge over the final 20 games of the season.
The Knicks finished 10 games over .500 and will host a playoff series. Who in their right mind could have imagined that before the start of the season?
Up first in round one this weekend is the Atlanta Hawks.
The Hawks bring two specific challenges to the table: the shooting skills of guard Trey Young and the size of Clint Capela and John Collins.
Atlanta has been a red-hot team in the second half of the season and played much better under interim head coach Nate McMillian.
The Knicks must be able to neutralize Young and control the pace in order to win this series. It’s a manageable ask.
Of the potential first-round opponents, Atlanta is by far and away the most winnable series for the Knicks.
Vegas says it’s basically a pick‘em series.
I’ll take the playoff-tested head coach and the team with home-court advantage to keep the feel-good ride going.
My money is on, yes, the Knicks in six.

You can listen to my NEW Podcast on all things NY Sports “New York, New York” on The Ringer. Download and subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

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