Former Guard Says Knicks Would’ve Beaten Celtics

Raymond Felton is looking to alter New York Knicks history that hasn’t happened yet.

The former Manhattanite couldn’t help but ask what if during an appearance on Tidal League’s web series “To The Baha.’ The rival Boston Celtics appear well on their way to an 18th NBA title but Felton believes that the Knicks would’ve ended that quest had they fumigated the locker room for injury bugs.

“Man, they may beat (Boston) period. It may not even go 7,” Felton theorized (h/t Knicks Muse). “You’ve got to think about it. (OG) Anunoby was out, (Bojan) Bogdanovic was out, (Julius) Randle out, Mitchell Robinson out. You talking about four dudes that could really start.”

Even with the Knicks’ sterling breakout, many have been quick to view a Boston title as an inevitability amidst a 64-win season and a 10-game winning streak earned earlier this postseason. Felton, who partook in the Knicks’ six-game ousting of Boston in 2013’s opening postseason round, isn’t fully buying it.

Little more needs to be written about the Knicks’ poor injury luck that ate away at their primary lineup. Despite losing the aforementioned men, the Knicks still mustered 50 wins and a second-place finish on the Eastern Conference leaderboard but the bottom finally fell out during an Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Indiana Pacers.

By the time that seven-game tilt ended, New York was forced to add both Brunson and Josh Hart to its list of casualties, denying them an Eastern Conference Finals showdown with their green adversaries. Boston swept Indiana in four games and now sits one win away from a Larry O’Brien Trophy hoist against the Dallas Mavericks. The next chance to clinch the series lands on Monday night at TD Garden (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC).

Though the Celtics took four of the five meetings staged this season, the Knicks added fuel to the “what if” fire in a visit to Beantown back on April 11. Facing a Celtics team that played its starters despite having the top seed on the Eastern playoff bracket locked up, the Knicks led by as much as 31 before holding on for a 118-109 decision.

Of note, that game was the only one of the five to feature the services of Anunoby, whose late December arrival served as a turning point to the Knicks’ season.

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