Did the Knicks get the toughest finals path?
The New York Knicks have finally made the playoffs in back to back seasons for the first time since 2013 and 2014. After a disappointing second round exit last year at the hands of the Indiana Pacers and an injured ankle to Jalen Brunson, the Knicks reloaded in the offseason to show the rest of the league they want to win now. The Knicks did this by way of two blockbuster trades for star players in Mikal Bridges and Karl Anthony-Towns.
Despite having one of the best starting lineups in all of the NBA, the Knicks struggled against their fellow championship contenders, holding an abysmal 0-4 record vs Boston, 0-4 vs Cleveland, and 1-3 vs their first round opponent Detroit.
Now you can make the case that should either of the top two seeds get upset, the Knicks automatically become the new favorite to win the Eastern conference. With an 11-2 record against the rest of the east playoff teams, it's easy to see why, however the odds of that occurring are ludicrously slim.
First order of business is escape round one against a scrappy Pistons team in their first playoffs since 2019, but game one proved that would be no easy task. Detroit looked in control of game 1 most of the way, until a remarkable 21-0 run in the 4th quarter put the Knicks ahead. Let's say the Knicks do survive Detroit, their reward barring a massive upset would be the Boston Celtics. Meeting the defending champions in round 2 is beyond unlucky, but to do it after not beating them a single time, it's hard to be optimistic.
But this is the NBA playoffs and as Kevin Garnett once said "Anything is possible". Should the Knicks survive and reach their first conference finals since 2000, their most likely opponent would be a historically good Cleveland Cavaliers team. The Cavs net a top 8 defense with one of the best scoring duos in the NBA with Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell averaging a combined 44 points per game.
Now let's hypothetically say New York defeats both Boston and Cleveland and reaches the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, they'd be met by whatever juggernaut somehow escapes one of the most competitive Western Conferences we've ever seen. Whether it's OKC, either LA team, Denver, Golden State, Minnesota, Memphis, or Houston, the Knicks would be in for an all out war.
Four series in a row that could very well end the Knicks season at any moment, I'd call that the hardest finals path out of any team fighting for the Larry O'Brien trophy this year.
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