The New York Knicks are two wins away from making the Eastern Conference Finals.
Tom Thibodeau’s roster has been one of the best teams in the NBA this season. New York’s uncompromising brand of defense has become a calling card. Jalen Brunson has proven himself to be the head of the snake and one of the best-scoring guards in the NBA.
Nevertheless, Draymond Green believes the Knicks’ success this season is a fluke.
“In the Eastern Conference, you can get to the Eastern Conference Finals a la the Atlanta Hawks, by playing very mid teams,” Green said. “This is setting up for what happened to the Atlanta Hawks three years ago when they made the Eastern Conference Finals, and they never got back…It was a fluke. That’s what the Knicks are setting y’all up for right now. And it will probably be another 15 years of misery that we will all sit around and laugh at Knicks fans.”
The Knicks have enjoyed this deep playoff run without their second-best player in the rotation. Julius Randle was shut down before the postseason began due to a shoulder injury.
Mitchell Robinson has also been far from his best after an injury-riddled season. So, for Thibodeau’s team to make it this far is proof of how talented the roster is.
If the Knicks can continue improving during the summer and avoid any major injuries next season, they will be among the top-tier rosters in the Eastern Conference. They could even be second only to the Boston Celtics.
It’s unlikely that New York’s potential run to the conference finals is a fluke. However, it may face a tough path, assuming that the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers both improve over the summer.
Nevertheless, this may be a comment Green will need to take back. The Knicks have been building to this moment for multiple years. Now that they’ve got it, it’s unlikely they let go of the rope.
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