The Knicks shocked the basketball world Friday night, demolishing the defending champion Boston Celtics 119-81 in Game 6 at Madison Square Garden to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 24 years.
The victory sent the MSG crowd into a frenzy as New York clinched a playoff series on their home court for the first time since 1999.
“It’s a great win. We advance. You look at that, but you also understand you have to get ready for the next series,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “The Pacers are a terrific team and we’re going to have to be ready.”
The Knicks will now host those same Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night – the team that knocked them out of last year’s playoffs in a heartbreaking Game 7.
Talk about a full-circle moment.
This wasn’t just any playoff win – it was a complete demolition. The 38-point margin stands as the largest playoff victory in Knicks history.
New York’s balanced attack overwhelmed the Celtics, with four players scoring 20+ points: Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby (23 each), Mikal Bridges (22), and Karl-Anthony Towns (21).
Josh Hart delivered a historic performance, recording 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. He became the first Knick to post a playoff triple-double since Walt Frazier back in the 1971-72 season.
The game was essentially over by halftime. The Knicks built a massive 64-37 lead that matched their largest playoff halftime advantage in the shot-clock era.
The only other time they led by that much? Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the Lakers – the legendary Willis Reed game that brought New York its first NBA title.
Fans were so ecstatic that some took to climbing light poles outside the arena after the game. Hart showed Bridges a video of the celebrations during their walk to the press conference.
“I’m new here but just know how much New York loves their sports, especially the Knicks,” Bridges said. “So, excited to be a part of it. They enjoy it for us right now but obviously we got way more to go.”
For Boston, it was a stunning collapse for a team that entered the playoffs as title favorites. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 20 points, while Payton Pritchard added 11 off the bench and Al Horford contributed 10.
The game got so out of hand that Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla pulled his starters in the third quarter after falling behind by 41 points.
“We didn’t have the same team this year that we had last year,” Celtics guard Derrick White admitted after the game. “Every year it’s a different team. We had a goal at the beginning of the year, and we fell short.”
Boston’s championship hopes effectively ended when superstar Jayson Tatum suffered a season-ending Achilles rupture in Game 4. Despite winning Game 3 by 22 points, the Celtics couldn’t overcome losing their leading scorer.
The series upset ranks among the biggest in NBA playoff history since 1988, according to analytics.
Now the basketball world turns its attention to what could be a classic Eastern Conference Finals matchup between the Knicks and Pacers – two teams with plenty of playoff history against each other.
