Knicks Building to Beat Celtics

The New York Knicks finished second in the Eastern Conference this past season, but the Boston Celtics were far and away in first as they waltzed to an NBA championship.

Many believe the Celtics could have been challenged by the Knicks had the teams met in the Eastern Conference Finals, but New York caught the injury bug and couldn’t get past the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the second round of the playoffs.

This offseason, the Knicks have tried to upgrade, acquiring Mikal Bridges via trade with the Brooklyn Nets and signing OG Anunoby to a long-term extension. Bleacher Report writer Zach Buckley believes that Bridges and Anunoby could be the key to beating the Celtics down the line.

“While they couldn’t find the funds to bring back Isaiah Hartenstein, they seemingly made a calculated wager that two-way wings trumped interior insurance,” Buckley writes. “Boston’s championship run may have guided that bet. The East runs through the Celtics—more specifically, through star wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown—for the foreseeable future. Bridges and Anunoby are two of the best options to throw at the Jays, so even if fans don’t love the costs of building this wing tandem, they should at least recognize the thought process behind the moves.”

While the Celtics haven’t become a dynasty yet, they certainly have the blueprint with Tatum and Brown running the ship, and no team could find a way to come even close to beating them during the postseason. Granted, every opponent the Celtics faced dealt with some massive injuries to key players, but Boston also did, losing Kristaps Porzingis to a lower leg injury in the first round against the Miami Heat.

The Celtics are coming into the 2024-25 campaign as the team to beat, but the Knicks are making their case to be part of the conversation. They are certainly closer to challenging the Celtics with Bridges and Anunoby on board.

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