Everyone outside of Detroit saw it coming

Based on our sub they were an unstoppable juggernaut 

Exactly, to me these playoffs in the east was, half offensive teams and half defensive teams forced to play 2000s ball

I’ll tweak your question and flip it back to you. We beat Boston last year and they blew two 20 point leads at home before Tatum’s injury, so why should getting Tatum back give them significantly better odds than the Knicks?

Since they barely beat a injured Raptors team and barely survived a very flawed Detroit team.

The Knicks have always man handled this eras Cavs and that’s before all the improvements and acquisitions they made the only team I was worried about as a Knicks fan going into the playoffs was Detroit before they exposed themselves in the Magic series.

Two thjngs:

1. It’s very questionable how much being the 1 seed even means anymore given recent playoff results.

2. the Cavs also flamed out in round 2 in 5 games to Indiana. They were banged up, but that was not an inspiring performance.

Unfortunately we didn’t get to see Boston blow more 20 point leads to the Knicks since they decided to blow a 3-1 series instead this year.

To be fair, not being a top 2 team and then not having to play either of those top 2 teams is generally a massive advantage.

Yup. The Knicks were significantly favored in all three of their East series, all of which came against lower seeds.

• -300 vs Hawks
• -250 vs 76ers
• -260 vs Cavs
• +160 vs Spurs

Would it have made a difference? I don’t see how playing teams that loss to teams the Knicks decimated would’ve changed anything.

When they played each other, yes. When the postseason started, no.

Not when the playoffs started (which is what is being discussed). The Cavs had better odds to reach the NBA Finals then the Knicks did, both at the start of the regular season AND at the start of the playoffs.

I feel like the general public decided what this Knicks season was after Detroit smoked them 3 times and willingly ignored any other evidence that suggested the Knicks were really good. They expected the Knicks to run away with the 1 seed when the year started and they didn’t, so it must mean they’re not that good.

It was like the complete opposite of 2025. In 2025 we had a good record but got destroyed by Boston, Cleveland and OKC so people thought we didn’t have a chance. This year we kept smoking or playing tight games with the top teams but Detroit had our number and Boston is getting Tatum so that talking point didn’t matter anymore.

no effect probably the big issue with the knicks is no one believed in our defense would hold up in the playoffs. like we were 5th in net rating and 7th in defense in the regular season so it’s not like we weren’t a great team, but they thought the kat/brunson bookends meant we would just get attacked over and over in the pick and roll in the playoffs. kat just held up really well, part of that was the refs let everyone play more physical and called fewer fouls also.

IMO parity is more consistent with the odds being flattened, rather than having a longshot victory.

The linked source goes to 1972-73 season

Talking about past odds is silly.

Really? No statement wins? No fire? Like when they won by 22 in Boston, or by 39 in Denver, or by 25 against the Spurs at home? Try paying attention next year.

They were already playing at a high level after the all star break.

Two weeks before the playoffs they implemented KAT/Brunson 2-way game at the top of the key and everyone was wondering why it didnt happen before. Something was clicking.

Completely disagree with you there. The last few games of the season we saw Brunson and KAT’s chemistry really kick it up a notch. Especially the Atlanta game and the Boston game.

Also that last Charlotte loss meant nothing

Don’t give r/nba a pass, either.

How else could something like this be quantified? It’s just data, it’s not that serious..

Don’t bet. Simple as that.

The Spurs were really the only team I could understand picking over the Knicks. How are you picking the Sixers over the Knicks after you watched Joel Embiid get killed on the court in game 7?

It was Danny Parkins from First Things First

I think it was Danny Parkins from First Things First. They released an hour long compilation of him being wrong

Hey what’s the deal with your username?

Same, never rooted harder for Wemby like I did during the WCF. That was the first and the last time lol.

But yeah, if you been casually following this team you’d know the goal was the Finals even before the season started. And these mad lads fucked around and actually materialized it given all that pressure.

I am not biased. Last year I thought we would get swept by the Celtics in the 2nd round. 99% of Knicks fans thought we were going to lose

This year I genuinely thought we would come out of the East. Again, we literally beat the Celtics and Pistons last year. Unless you’re telling me I should’ve been scared of the Sixers/Hawks/Cavs coming into the playoffs?

Did something happen to the Celtics? I just can’t remember. Maybe some sort of season ending injury? Maybe to a key player? Maybe a player they consider their best player? I wonder if something like that might impact their post season chances. Probably not right?

They’re not mutually exclusive. They found their groove at just the time you want to as a team and their players are flat-out better than people wanted to admit.

Yo bozo, mfs was saying this exact same shit before they won the championship. They don’t have to do shit again to prove anything to you. These sentiments don’t carry weight anymore.

Go back and watch the run, appreciate it, or don’t, who gives a fuck. But saying what they can and can’t do is not up to you. They just proved everybody wrong. That’s what this whole fucking thread is about.

They don’t have to. To demonstrate that level of dominance just one time en route to a championship is historic.

You had the Knicks going 16-3 in the playoffs and beating the Spurs in 5?

they were hot against Philly and Cleveland for sure

They were not hot against San Antonio at all. They were just better

I mean statistically they played better in the postseason than any team ever…

Everybody kinda just chose to ignore they were 3rd in offense and 7th in defense. And I’m pretty sure those numbers are higher after January 1st. People had just already decided you can’t have a good defense with KAT and Brunson regardless of the facts.

So they turned up in the playoffs? An experienced team that had made runs for 3 years straight beforehand? You don’t say!

How about a compromise. They’re a very good team. Who then got hot and did some wild assssss sheeeeeeit

crazy how this just gave me a vision of the future where i’m yelling at my TV after KATs 3rd foul in the first quarter

Well there’s a lot more stupid people than you think

ha i mean im with ya, im just saying it wasnt consensus