‘We’re not done:’ After blitzing Boston in Game 6, it’s time to ask —
NEW YORK — Head coach Tom Thibodeau made his expectations clear back in September. Yes, the Knicks had just won 50 games, finished with the second seed in the East and made it to the second round of the playoffs. But that was last year.
This year’s Knicks would need to integrate new pieces — would need to develop new habits, forge new bonds. You don’t just respawn at the same point you ended at last year; if you want to get to the promised land, you can’t skip any steps.
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“It’s a long grind, and you prepare for that, and I would think that you begin with the end in mind,” Thibodeau said at Knicks media day. “What’s it going to take at the end for us?”
It’s tempting to say that it’s going to take exactly what they got on Friday night in an absolute shellacking of the wounded and reduced Boston Celtics — a 119-81 win that now stands as the most lopsided victory in Knicks postseason history.
A composed performance from All-NBA point guard Jalen Brunson, burnishing his postseason legacy in New York with another Penn Station-shaking win. A bruising 21-and-12 double-double from All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns, continuing to prove in this postseason that he doesn’t need to drill a ton of 3-pointers to make a major impact.
A triple-double — the first in the postseason by a Knick since Walt “Clyde” Frazier all the way back in 1972 — for the relentless Josh Hart, forever pushing the pace, soaring for contested boards, communicating defensive assignments and running HB Dive in transition. Twenty-plus points apiece, eight combined 3-pointers and seven combined blocks and steals from 3-and-D wings OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges. Strong play off the bench from guard Miles McBride, who rediscovered the touch on his jumper against Boston, and center Mitchell Robinson, a behemoth on the boards who played the best point-of-attack defense of his career on the Celtics’ wings and guards.
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It all amounts to a recipe for playoff…
