The New York Knicks are on a roll, and it's not just about the wins. With each passing game, they're becoming more and more like a team of destiny, a force to be reckoned with in the NBA. But what makes this team so fascinating is not just their string of victories, but the quiet, internal pursuit of basketball harmony. It's about finding the best version of themselves, the team they always needed to be to even have a chance at the championship.
The Knicks' journey to this point has been a rollercoaster. They've had their fair share of ups and downs, but something clicked after Game 3 of their first-round series against Atlanta. Karl-Anthony Towns, who had been expressing frustration with his role, found his groove as a passing hub behind the arc. The team's offense soared, and the defense locked in, leading to a streak of seven wins by a combined 185 points. These games felt like the 2014 Spurs, a basketball hurricane of ball movement and harmony.
But the real test came in the Eastern Conference finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Knicks, coming off a nine-day break, were flat for three and a half quarters and trailed by 22 points with roughly seven minutes left. Yet, they never took their foot off the gas. They knew not to, because they had been on the other side of such a game just a year ago, when they choked away a lead against the Indiana Pacers. That game was the death of the old Knicks, the defeat that cost Tom Thibodeau his job.
The adjustment that swung this game for the Knicks was simple but familiar. They dealt with none of the issues that had plagued them in the past, such as reverting to Jalen Brunson-ball and allowing him to monopolize the offense. Instead, they played their butts off on defense, spaced the floor on offense, and watched Brunson commit NBA-sanctioned atrocities on James Harden through one of the most relentless switch-hunting stretches in NBA history. The team knew the assignment and eagerly executed it.
The Knicks' success is not just about talent. It's about finding the right balance and maximizing the whole. Josh Hart, for example, offered to come off the bench, but Thibodeau declined the offer despite mountains of on-off data suggesting he should make the change. The team has also found the right environment, with Mike Brown fostering a culture that gets each of the individual parts to fully buy in on the biggest stage. If anyone suffers a defensive lapse or if Hart's ego can't stomach getting benched, the Knicks lose.
The Knicks' run is not just a fluke or a laughable exploitation of a single mismatch. It's a group of players that has teetered on the edge of dysfunction for most of its two years together, finding something, some form of cohesion and a sense of team, that it just didn't have a year ago. This organization has achieved so rarely across its 53-year championship drought.
The Knicks' success is also not just about the wins. It's about the journey and the process. They've figured out the best versions of themselves, the team they always needed to be to even have a chance to win the championship. If you believe in destiny or the basketball gods, you probably believe they'll be rewarded for that. And they certainly were in Game 1.
In my opinion, the Knicks are on the right track. They've found the right balance and the right environment, and they're playing the best basketball of their season. But it's not just about the wins. It's about the journey and the process. The Knicks are becoming more and more like a team of destiny, and that's what makes basketball so romantic.
