For the first time since 2000, the New York Knicks have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Under the ownership of James Dolan, New York has struggled throughout most of the 21st century. Prior to its hiring of current head coach Tom Thibodeau ahead of the 2020-21 season, the team had only made the playoffs in five of 20 seasons and had only won a single playoff series in 2012-13.
Hired by his former agent Leon Rose, now New York’s general manager, Thibodeau set to work turning the team’s identity around, modernizing its offense and empowering then-power forward Julius Randle as a distributor.
During his first season at the helm, Thibodeau coached the club to a 41-31 record (it was a 72-game season due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and a top-four seed.
Although New York missed the postseason in 2021-22, it has made the second round across each of the past three seasons. Now, for the first time under Thibodeau, the club has won two straight playoff series.
To get to the East Finals, the Knicks bested the reigning champion Boston Celtics in a six-game series that, frankly, should have been a five-game series. New York overcame a pair of 20-point Boston leads to steal road wins in Games 1 and 2, and nabbed a 3-1 series edge while watching the Celtics’ best player, six-time All-Star Jayson Tatum, tear his Achilles tendon late into Game 4.
More New York Knicks News: Celtics Superstar Jayson Tatum Suffers Torn Achilles to End Season
The series victory marked one of the biggest postseason upsets in league history, based on odds.
The Knicks’ win over the Celtics is tied for the 7th biggest NBA playoff series upset since 1988 pic.twitter.com/YxBDxHLSn5
— Lev Akabas (@LevAkabas) May 17, 2025
Thibodeau apparently made some huge changes to his approach to earn the semifinal series win over the Celtics, per Fred Katz of The Athletic.
“Tom Thibodeau deserves credit, too,” Katz writes. “The veteran coach revamped the Knicks’ defensive identity during the Boston series, engineering a defense that switched far more than it had all season. The change in style confused the Celtics in Games 1 and 2, which included a couple of 20-point Knicks comebacks.”
Celtics lost a 14 point lead by missing 13 straight field goals in the fourth quarter: pic.twitter.com/pHeFtJoQFB
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) May 8, 2025
Armed with All-Defensive Team standouts OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges along the perimeter, plus the versatile Mitchell Robinson at the rim, New York was able to effectively force the Celtics to settle for desperation heaves much of the time, dissuading them from enacting the threes-and-drives offense that had led them to the title last year.
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