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

[Green89]

bad matchip for the knicks. jrue, white and brown will make life very difficult for brunson. Knicks need Towns to go crazy every game, or at least 4 games. Brunson will look for Pritchard like someone looking for a chance to breath.

Usually regular season means nothing, but I've seen enough to see some paterns. Celtics in 5

Pritchard played some superb defense for his size in Round 1.

[durden_tyler]

Question for our American friends in Boston and in New York; say it's a crucial Game 7: Knicks vs Celtics this series and some of you are invited in a bar (let's say a larger bar/venue that can house maybe 250-300 people.)

Half Knicks fans and half Celtics fans. (And let's assume those people as the average/above average (not casuals) passionate fans of those teams)

Is it guaranteed that there'll be a fight? How many will actually fight? How many will talk trash for 48 minutes? Will there be people sent to the hospital?

(i really just want to know how much you hate each other. )

[DaGawd]

gonna need bridges and towns to not play like hoes for this to be competitive

[The Corey's]

Lots of Celtics haters on this board. That's what I've learned over the last few playoff runs.

Feels odd. They did it the right way.

I guess people really are green with envy.

[OldSchoolNoBull]

These two teams - two of the NBA's original eight - have a long playoff history. Fifteen previous matchups going all the way back to the league's infancy in the early 50s and covering every decade except the 00s:

1951 Eastern Division Semifinals

A Knicks team led by Max Zaslofsky and Harry Gallatin prevails over Bob Cousy, Ed Macauley, and the Celtics 2-0(in a best of 3 series). The Knicks would defeat the Syracuse Nationals of Dolph Schayes 3-2 before falling to the Rochester Royals of Bob Davies in the Finals in 7.

1952 Eastern Division Semifinals

In a rematch, with the Celtics having added Bill Sharman to the mix, the Knicks again prevail, 2-1. They would again defeat the Nationals 3-1 before falling to Mikan's Minneapolis Lakers in the Finals in 7.

1953 Eastern Division Finals

This time, with Carl Braun having replaced Zaslofsky, the Knicks prevailed 3-1 in a best of five. They would go on to lose to the Minneapolis Lakers in the Finals in 5.

1954 Eastern Conference Round-Robin

The Celtics prevail 2-0, and would fall to the Syracuse Nationals in the Division Finals 0-2.

1955 Eastern Division Semifinals

In the final meeting of this era, the Celtics would prevail 2-1, and then fall again to the Nationals in the Division Finals 1-3.

1967 Eastern Division Semifinals

A Knicks team featuring Willis Reed, Walt Bellamy, Cazzie Russell, and Freddie Crawford would fall 1-3 to the dynasty Celtics of Russell, Havlicek, and Sam Jones. The Celtics would be defeated by the 67 Sixers of Chamberlain, Chet Walker, and Hal Geer in the Division Finals.

1969 Eastern Division Finals

The Holzman Knicks of Reed, Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere, Dick Barnett, and Bill Bradley actually had a superior record here, but Russell's Celtics on their last legs prevailed 4-2 and would go on to defeat the Lakers in 7 to claim their 11th title in 13 years.

1972 Eastern Conference Finals

The Holzman Knicks, with Jerry Lucas starting in place of the injured Willis Reed, prevail 4-1 over a Celtics team rebuilt around Havlicek, Dave Cowens, Jo Jo White, and Don Nelson. The Knicks fell to the 72 Lakers in 5 in the Finals.

1973 Eastern Conference Finals

With Reed back(albeit in declined form), it takes the Knicks all 7 games to prevail 4-3 in a rematch with the 70s Celtics. The Knicks would go on defeat the Lakers in 5 for the title.

1974 Eastern Conference Finals

The third time was the charm for Cowens, Havlicek, and co., as they defeated a Holzman Knicks team on its last legs in 5. The Celtics would go on to defeat the Kareem/Oscar Bucks in 7 for the title.

1984 Eastern Conference Semifinals

Ten years later, a Knicks team led by peak Bernard King, coach Hubie Brown, and a supporting cast featuring future Bull Bill Cartwright, Trent Tucker, Rory Sparrow, and Truck Robinson would take on one of the great powers of the decade in a Celtics team featuring Bird, McHale, Parish, Dennis Johnson, Cedric Maxwell, and Gerald Henderson Sr. Amazingly, led by King's 29.1ppg on 54.5% FG, the Knicks pushed the Celtics - who had won 15 more games in the regular season - all the way to 7 games before falling. The Celtics, of course, would go on to defeat the Moncrief Bucks in 5 and Showtime in 7 to win the title.

1988 Eastern Conference First Round

Patrick Ewing's first playoff series. Surrounded by Gerald Wilkins, Johnny Newman, Kenny "Sky" Walker, Mark Jackson, and Sidney Green, Ewing's Knicks fell to Bird's Celtics 3-1. The Celtics would defeat Dominique's Hawks in 7 before falling to the Bad Boys in 6 in the ECF.

1990 Eastern Conference First Round

Led by a now-prime Patrick Ewing and a supporting cast featuring Charles Oakley, Gerald Wilkins, Kiki Vandeweghe, and Maurice Cheeks, the underdog Knicks defeated the Bird/McHale/Parish Celtics(with Reggie Lewis now playing a big role) 3-2. They would fall to the Bad Boys in 5 the following round.

2011 Eastern Conference First Round

We skip ahead two decades, as the Celtics became irrelevant when the Knicks got really good in the 90s and then by the time the Celtics were decent again, the Knicks were in the dregs of the post-Ewing Scott Layden/Isiah Thomas era.

The Knicks had signed Amare in the offseason and then after a surprisingly strong start to the season, traded the farm for Melo. So this series was Amare, Melo, and a skeleton crew featuring Ronny Turiaf and Toney Douglas vs the Celtics of Garnett, Pierce, Allen, Rondo and co. who were coming off their second Finals appearance in three years. The Celtics swept the Knicks 4-0 before falling to the Heatles in 5.

2013 Eastern Conference First Round

Easily the best Melo Knicks team, with a supporting cast of Tyson Chandler, J.R. Smith, Raymond Felton, Iman Shumpert, Pablo Prigioni, and Jason Kidd(in his last season), faced off against an old, broken down Celtics team. Ray Allen was already gone, and Rondo had torn his ACL, so the staring lineup was Garnett, Pierce, Jeff Green, Avery Bradley, and Brandon Bass. The Knicks prevailed 4-2 - earning their first playoff series victory since the 2000 ECF run in Ewing's last year in NY - in what would be Garnett and Pierce's final games as Celtics. The Knicks would fall to the George/HIbbert/West Pacers in 6 in the following round.

All told, the Knicks are 7-8 all time in playoff series vs the Celtics.

[Jta444]

Tatum please sweep this flopping fish-looking Brunson

[Gregoire]

Celts in 6

[Wingy]

Monday?!? NBA playoff scheduling is straight ass.

[Johnny Tomala]

Celtics in 5.

[kaansunman]

Nightmare matchup for Knicks. Regular season results are (0-4) not that important but it says a lot for these matchups. Yes Mitch didn't play on those games but can he be a factor I am not sure. He will be crushing the offensive glass yes but can he be able to switch and guard the three point shooting, don't think so.

Knicks gave up from the depth going for Mikal and KAT. Mikal is consistent and you know what you get from him everynight. KAT's inconsistency is driving me crazy. Brunson is the guy for this team but KAT is the most paid. He needs to step up giving 25-30 points every night and avoid silly fauls. This is the expectation for the past 8 years so it'll be a miracle if he can do that in 3 days.

one cold shooting night for Celtics, they'll win in 5.

[Froob]

Question for our American friends in Boston and in New York; say it's a crucial Game 7: Knicks vs Celtics this series and some of you are invited in a bar (let's say a larger bar/venue that can house maybe 250-300 people.)

Half Knicks fans and half Celtics fans. (And let's assume those people as the average/above average (not casuals) passionate fans of those teams)

Is it guaranteed that there'll be a fight? How many will actually fight? How many will talk trash for 48 minutes? Will there be people sent to the hospital?

(i really just want to know how much you hate each other. )

We don't hate the Knicks. We own them

[MMyhre]

Lakers in 5

[LFGK]

bad matchip for the knicks. jrue, white and brown will make life very difficult for brunson. Knicks need Towns to go crazy every game, or at least 4 games. Brunson will look for Pritchard like someone looking for a chance to breath.

Usually regular season means nothing, but I've seen enough to see some paterns. Celtics in 5

My brother in Christ since he joined the Knicks hes averaging 26/6 on 49.3 in 12 games, life very difficult? if Kat is used correctly and theres no injuries the Knicks will make it a series don't let that regular season nonsense fool you, Knicks weren't healthy in most of those games.

[LFGK]

bad matchip for the knicks. jrue, white and brown will make life very difficult for brunson. Knicks need Towns to go crazy every game, or at least 4 games. Brunson will look for Pritchard like someone looking for a chance to breath.

Usually regular season means nothing, but I've seen enough to see some paterns. Celtics in 5

Only one of them can make life hard for Brunson at a time and we'll probably hide him on Jrue; we've got Mikal for Brown and Hart/McBride for White.

Did you see our last game, when we finally had Robinson back in the rotation?

that game doesn't count, doesn't fit the narrative

[cgf]

Nightmare matchup for Knicks. Regular season results are (0-4) not that important but it says a lot for these matchups. Yes Mitch didn't play on those games but can he be a factor I am not sure. He will be crushing the offensive glass yes but can he be able to switch and guard the three point shooting, don't think so.

Knicks gave up from the depth going for Mikal and KAT. Mikal is consistent and you know what you get from him everynight. KAT's inconsistency is driving me crazy. Brunson is the guy for this team but KAT is the most paid. He needs to step up giving 25-30 points every night and avoid silly fauls. This is the expectation for the past 8 years so it'll be a miracle if he can do that in 3 days.

one cold shooting night for Celtics, they'll win in 5.

Robinson is very good at coming out to the perimeter and not just contesting but blocking 3s. That's not really a concern for us at all.

And given our lack of depth, not having to play 3 games in 4 nights should make a huge difference.

[UNCBlue012]

Celtics in 6. I do think the Knicks find a way to win two. They don't match up very well with Boston, but they've got legit talent on the roster.

[UNCBlue012]

bad matchip for the knicks. jrue, white and brown will make life very difficult for brunson. Knicks need Towns to go crazy every game, or at least 4 games. Brunson will look for Pritchard like someone looking for a chance to breath.

Usually regular season means nothing, but I've seen enough to see some paterns. Celtics in 5

My brother in Christ since he joined the Knicks hes averaging 26/6 on 49.3 in 12 games, life very difficult? if Kat is used correctly and theres no injuries the Knicks will make it a series don't let that regular season nonsense fool you, Knicks weren't healthy in most of those games.

To be fair and keep it consistent — Boston didn’t just beat the Knicks during the regular season, they kick their ass in three of the four, even while dealing with injuries of their own. That said, I agree — this will likely be a better series than most expect. I’ve got Boston in 6.

[cgf]

bad matchip for the knicks. jrue, white and brown will make life very difficult for brunson. Knicks need Towns to go crazy every game, or at least 4 games. Brunson will look for Pritchard like someone looking for a chance to breath.

Usually regular season means nothing, but I've seen enough to see some paterns. Celtics in 5

My brother in Christ since he joined the Knicks hes averaging 26/6 on 49.3 in 12 games, life very difficult? if Kat is used correctly and theres no injuries the Knicks will make it a series don't let that regular season nonsense fool you, Knicks weren't healthy in most of those games.

To be fair and keep it consistent — Boston didn’t just beat the Knicks during the regular season, they kick their ass in three of the four, even while dealing with injuries of their own. That said, I agree — this will likely be a better series than most expect. I’ve got Boston in 6.

2 of 4 games, the penultimate game was close in the 4th before we gassed and the last one went to OT. Both were our 3rd in 4 nights.

[NoStatsGuy]

Welp, this the series that Knicks fans wanted last season in the ECF, we'll see how it plays out.

we had a completely different team last year. last years knicks werent soft at all. i told everybody thats what we gon get with the minnesota trade. donte and randle were rough riders, KAT and mikal are goofballs.

we have more talent now but at what cost? i still believe the detroit series shouldnt be why people are so down on the knicks. detroit made it a bar fight the first 4 games and they have a very very solid defense. they were top 5 or so post all star break? going 6 vs detroit is nothing to be ashamed of.

i actually like that people have so low expectations now and call it a "2nd round bye", the knicks can show and prove what they are made of in this series.

[itrsteve]

Welp, this the series that Knicks fans wanted last season in the ECF, we'll see how it plays out.

we had a completely different team last year. last years knicks werent soft at all. i told everybody thats what we gon get with the minnesota trade. donte and randle were rough riders, KAT and mikal are goofballs.

we have more talent now but at what cost? i still believe the detroit series shouldnt be why people are so down on the knicks. detroit made it a bar fight the first 4 games and they have a very very solid defense. they were top 5 or so post all star break? going 6 vs detroit is nothing to be ashamed of.

i actually like that people have so low expectations now and call it a "2nd round bye", the knicks can show and prove what they are made of in this series.

To me, Isaiah Hartenstein is the huge loss. I feel much better playing NYK without him.