2025 NBA PLAYOFFS East Semifinals: #2 Boston Celtics vs #3 New York Knicks (NYK leads 1-0)

[Bad-Thoma]

I can't believe I have to root for the Celtics now. This is disgusting. Anyway Celtics in 5.

One of us. One of us. One of us.

[cgf]

Knicks are the weakest team left in the playoffs. Hard to see them putting up much of a challenge for the defending champs. I’d say Celtics in 5, but I also wouldn’t be surprised with a sweep if Boston can ratchet up their intensity from the last round now that things are getting more serious.

…Knicks are better than GSW, HOU, LAC, DEN, IND, and on par with Minny…

[The Corey's]

Knicks are the weakest team left in the playoffs. Hard to see them putting up much of a challenge for the defending champs. I’d say Celtics in 5, but I also wouldn’t be surprised with a sweep if Boston can ratchet up their intensity from the last round now that things are getting more serious.

…Knicks are better than GSW, HOU, LAC, DEN, IND, and on par with Minny…

[cgf]

I was surprised how chaotic the Knicks looked at times vs Detroit. I dont think you can afford to play that style vs the Celtics. Boston already has the math advantage and throwing away possesions will cime back to haunt you.

That series was a rockfight, like the first 4 games of your series against Orlando. This will be a very different series, for better or for worse...from our perspective. If we could muck you up the way the Magic did and leave it up to Brunson v Tatum in crunch time, I'd feel a lot more confident lol.

I see last years Knicks as a team better suited to muck up the game. But lets say i concede that Brunson is a playoff Jimmy preformer i still dont think the rest of the Knicks are playoff hardened performers. Losing to the Knicks would be a huge set back for the Celtics

Yeah, I’ll always wonder what could’ve been if we had been healthy last spring…with 48minutes of elite rim protection, Julius’s bullyball + playmaking, and a strong 8 man rotation.

But I’m not sure we’re any less of a challenge if we bring our A-game and get some combination of Towns playing like he did in that last RS game; OG & Bridges cranking their games up another level; our shooting regressing to the mean by having OG / Mikal / Deuce / Brunson all go supernova this series; and/or us being able to dominate the glass with Robinson & Hart/Towns.

You’ll probably win unless a couple of those things break our way simultaneously and Jalen has a series for the ages; I just don’t think it’ll be a short series with a ton of blowouts.

[cgf]

Knicks are the weakest team left in the playoffs. Hard to see them putting up much of a challenge for the defending champs. I’d say Celtics in 5, but I also wouldn’t be surprised with a sweep if Boston can ratchet up their intensity from the last round now that things are getting more serious.

…Knicks are better than GSW, HOU, LAC, DEN, IND, and on par with Minny…

7-3 against those teams when Brunson & Towns were healthy

Indy is very close to us & Minny, so could totally beat us if Boston & Cleveland both s*** the bed, but we are a bit better when both teams are fully fit.

[iggymcfrack]

Knicks are the weakest team left in the playoffs. Hard to see them putting up much of a challenge for the defending champs. I’d say Celtics in 5, but I also wouldn’t be surprised with a sweep if Boston can ratchet up their intensity from the last round now that things are getting more serious.

…Knicks are better than GSW, HOU, LAC, DEN, IND, and on par with Minny…

They have a worse SRS than any of those teams except for Indiana and the Pacers have been much better in the second half of the season with Nembhard healthy. In Round 1, the Knicks played a team that was much worse than any of those teams and they outscored them by 1.3 PPG. Pacers out scored a similar opponent by 7.3 PPG in the first round. It’s indexing ridiculously hard on vibes to take the Knicks over the Clippers with Kawhi, the Warriors with Butler, or the Nuggets with Jokic.

[cgf]

…Knicks are better than GSW, HOU, LAC, DEN, IND, and on par with Minny…

They have a worse SRS than any of those teams except for Indiana and the Pacers have been much better in the second half of the season with Nembhard healthy. In Round 1, the Knicks played a team that was much worse than any of those teams and they outscored them by 1.3 PPG. Pacers out scored a similar opponent by 7.3 PPG in the first round. It’s indexing ridiculously hard on vibes to take the Knicks over the Clippers with Kawhi, the Warriors with Butler, or the Nuggets with Jokic.

When games start being decided by srs, we can talk about that instead of the results on the court. Until then Denver doesn’t have enough around Jokic to hang with us and GSW is just too small to beat us with Towns & Brunson healthy. Clippers have the size & supporting cast, but in 2025 I’m taking Brunson over Kawhi in crunchtime

And Milwaukee was much worse than Detroit or Orlando this season, that’s why everyone in the east except Cleveland wanted to play them in round one. People pay too much attention to past accomplishments with teams that have a big name. Giannis is awesome but I was begging to play the Bucks over the Pistons before the seedings were set.

PS what did srs have to say about LA - MIN? Cause that seemed like an obvious win for the wolves that a lot of folks got wrong because they ignored how the two teams would actually matchup.

[The Corey's]

…Knicks are better than GSW, HOU, LAC, DEN, IND, and on par with Minny…

7-3 against those teams when Brunson & Towns were healthy

Indy is very close to us & Minny, so could totally beat us if Boston & Cleveland both s*** the bed, but we are a bit better when both teams are fully fit.

Why do knick fans continue to perpetrate this lie that when healthy they are better than Boston or Cleveland? They aren't even equal when healthy.

You have a entire season of evidence of proof.

The only way Boston loses is if they lose 3 starters.

[cgf]

7-3 against those teams when Brunson & Towns were healthy

Indy is very close to us & Minny, so could totally beat us if Boston & Cleveland both s*** the bed, but we are a bit better when both teams are fully fit.

Why do knick fans continue to perpetrate this lie that when healthy they are better than Boston or Cleveland? They aren't even equal when healthy.

You have a entire season of evidence of proof.

The only way Boston loses is if they lose 3 starters.

When did I ever say that lol. I keep saying we’ll probably lose and the top 3 outclassed us all year.

But outside of the top 3, we can beat anyone…although it would be close enough with Minnesota and Indiana that it could go either way.

I just think the Warriors, Nuggets, and Clippers are overrated because of their name recognition.

[The Corey's]

7-3 against those teams when Brunson & Towns were healthy

Indy is very close to us & Minny, so could totally beat us if Boston & Cleveland both s*** the bed, but we are a bit better when both teams are fully fit.

Why do knick fans continue to perpetrate this lie that when healthy they are better than Boston or Cleveland? They aren't even equal when healthy.

You have a entire season of evidence of proof.

The only way Boston loses is if they lose 3 starters.

When did I ever say that lol. I keep saying we’ll probably lose and the top 3 outclassed us all year.

But outside of the top 3, we can beat anyone…although it would be close enough with Minnesota and Indiana that it could go either way.

I just think the Warriors, Nuggets, and Clippers are overrated because of their name recognition.

So which teams are you referring to when you say "both teams fully fit"?

[cgf]

Why do knick fans continue to perpetrate this lie that when healthy they are better than Boston or Cleveland? They aren't even equal when healthy.

You have a entire season of evidence of proof.

The only way Boston loses is if they lose 3 starters.

When did I ever say that lol. I keep saying we’ll probably lose and the top 3 outclassed us all year.

But outside of the top 3, we can beat anyone…although it would be close enough with Minnesota and Indiana that it could go either way.

I just think the Warriors, Nuggets, and Clippers are overrated because of their name recognition.

So which teams are you referring to when you say "both teams fully fit"?

Knicks & Pacers

[The Corey's]

When did I ever say that lol. I keep saying we’ll probably lose and the top 3 outclassed us all year.

But outside of the top 3, we can beat anyone…although it would be close enough with Minnesota and Indiana that it could go either way.

I just think the Warriors, Nuggets, and Clippers are overrated because of their name recognition.

So which teams are you referring to when you say "both teams fully fit"?

Knicks & Pacers

Id take the pacers in there scenario personally but it doesn't matter. Celtics in 5.

[bronxknicksfan1]

…Knicks are better than GSW, HOU, LAC, DEN, IND, and on par with Minny…

They have a worse SRS than any of those teams except for Indiana and the Pacers have been much better in the second half of the season with Nembhard healthy. In Round 1, the Knicks played a team that was much worse than any of those teams and they outscored them by 1.3 PPG. Pacers out scored a similar opponent by 7.3 PPG in the first round. It’s indexing ridiculously hard on vibes to take the Knicks over the Clippers with Kawhi, the Warriors with Butler, or the Nuggets with Jokic.

You know Brunson missed 15 games towards the end of the season, right? Before he went down, the Knicks were top 6 in net rating and a top 5 record in the league. Saying they’re on par or better than a majority of playoff teams not named the Thunder/Celtics/Cavs is not ridiculous.

[cgf]

So which teams are you referring to when you say "both teams fully fit"?

Knicks & Pacers

Id take the pacers in there scenario personally but it doesn't matter. Celtics in 5.

They’re very good to, so could totally beat us again. But if we have our top 7 healthy, I do think we are a bit better thanks to Brunson in crunchtime.

Being the 4th team in a 3 team league has its downsides, but this has been a fun season & I think there’s 6 or 7 games left in it.

[The Corey's]

Knicks & Pacers

Id take the pacers in there scenario personally but it doesn't matter. Celtics in 5.

They’re very good to, so could totally beat us again. But if we have our top 7 healthy, I do think we are a bit better thanks to Brunson in crunchtime.

Being the 4th team in a 3 team league has its downsides, but this has been a fun season & I think there’s 6 or 7 games left in it.

Lol naw. If it went 7 you might as well just say the Knicks got this.

Anything beyond 5 is a utter failure for the Celtics.

[KamikazeK]

Knicks are the weakest team left in the playoffs. Hard to see them putting up much of a challenge for the defending champs. I’d say Celtics in 5, but I also wouldn’t be surprised with a sweep if Boston can ratchet up their intensity from the last round now that things are getting more serious.

…Knicks are better than GSW, HOU, LAC, DEN, IND, and on par with Minny…

Your team has a lot to prove. I don't think anyone outside New York is seriously considering them a threat to beat the Celtics. We shall see what happens, but I'm expecting an ez sweep.

[mcfly1204]

They have a worse SRS than any of those teams except for Indiana and the Pacers have been much better in the second half of the season with Nembhard healthy. In Round 1, the Knicks played a team that was much worse than any of those teams and they outscored them by 1.3 PPG. Pacers out scored a similar opponent by 7.3 PPG in the first round. It’s indexing ridiculously hard on vibes to take the Knicks over the Clippers with Kawhi, the Warriors with Butler, or the Nuggets with Jokic.

When games start being decided by srs, we can talk about that instead of the results on the court. Until then Denver doesn’t have enough around Jokic to hang with us and GSW is just too small to beat us with Towns & Brunson healthy. Clippers have the size & supporting cast, but in 2025 I’m taking Brunson over Kawhi in crunchtime

And Milwaukee was much worse than Detroit or Orlando this season, that’s why everyone in the east except Cleveland wanted to play them in round one. People pay too much attention to past accomplishments with teams that have a big name. Giannis is awesome but I was begging to play the Bucks over the Pistons before the seedings were set.

PS what did srs have to say about LA - MIN? Cause that seemed like an obvious win for the wolves that a lot of folks got wrong because they ignored how the two teams would actually matchup.

So if every what-if scenario goes New York's way, they may end up being better than all of those others? Got it.

[Bergmaniac]

I just don't see a way for the Knicks to defend the Celtics well enough for this to be close. There is nowhere to hide subpar defenders against the Celtics and the Knicks need to play Brunson and KAT huge minutes to be able to score.

Optimistic Knicks fan here, but Towns actually defended well in that Pistons series, especially in crunchtime, and is generally good when he's not asked to protect the rim, like he isn't in our double big lineups next to Robinson. Though Brunson's limited by his size, he's smart & feisty; so Jalen should be fine guarding Holiday or Pritchard as long as we can keep OG & Bridges on Tatum & Brown.

But that's the thing, you can't really keep Brunson away from Tatum and Brown unless you are willing to live with the Celtics shooting wide open 3s all series. That's what makes Boston so hard to defend.

[iggymcfrack]

They have a worse SRS than any of those teams except for Indiana and the Pacers have been much better in the second half of the season with Nembhard healthy. In Round 1, the Knicks played a team that was much worse than any of those teams and they outscored them by 1.3 PPG. Pacers out scored a similar opponent by 7.3 PPG in the first round. It’s indexing ridiculously hard on vibes to take the Knicks over the Clippers with Kawhi, the Warriors with Butler, or the Nuggets with Jokic.

When games start being decided by srs, we can talk about that instead of the results on the court. Until then Denver doesn’t have enough around Jokic to hang with us and GSW is just too small to beat us with Towns & Brunson healthy. Clippers have the size & supporting cast, but in 2025 I’m taking Brunson over Kawhi in crunchtime

And Milwaukee was much worse than Detroit or Orlando this season, that’s why everyone in the east except Cleveland wanted to play them in round one. People pay too much attention to past accomplishments with teams that have a big name. Giannis is awesome but I was begging to play the Bucks over the Pistons before the seedings were set.

PS what did srs have to say about LA - MIN? Cause that seemed like an obvious win for the wolves that a lot of folks got wrong because they ignored how the two teams would actually matchup.

I picked Wolves in 6 on here and bet them heavier than any other series in the first round, largely because they had a much better SRS than the Lakers and the Lakers’ point differential didn’t improve much after trading for Luka Doncic.

[California Gold]

Barring some crazy subpar play from the Celtics along with injuries or some heroic play from the Knicks, I don’t see how the Knicks are winning this series. They will probably win a game or 2, but the Knicks just feel like a worse version of the Celtics. They also somehow don’t match up all that well even though they assembled this roster to battle this Celtics team.

Brunson going for 40+ in every game is their best chance, that and maybe Brown/Tatum getting hurt.