The New York Knicks were heavy favorites in their first round playoff series against the Detroit Pistons, but every game was a nail-biter. In Round 2 against the Boston Celtics, they are in the complete opposite boat.
Knicks’ Jalen Brunson thinks it’s ’easier’ to be underdogs
They are massive underdogs against Boston, and reasonably so. The Celtics are the reigning champions and owned the Knicks in the regular season, dominating all four matchups.
Despite already being counted out by many, they are not letting up. Superstar captain Jalen Brunson said on his podcast, The Roommates Show, that he finds it easier to be underdogs in a playoff series.
“Now you have to lock in. It’s like, no one believes in us, let’s go do it,” Brunson said. “And for me, I feel like that’s easier than being, ‘oh, we’re so good, everyone thinks that we’re good.’ I like when people doubt us. It makes the process of preparing easier.”
The Knicks have always had a strong underdog mentality
The Knicks have shown over the past few years that the underdog mentality doesn’t hurt them. Not many were sure how they would fare against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Round 1 of the 2023 playoffs, especially since they didn’t have home court advantage, but New York took care of them fairly easily in five games.
Last year, the Knicks had their backs against the wall with an unprecedented injury situation, yet they still managed to push the Indiana Pacers to seven games in the second round. While a healthy team would have had a much stronger chance against them, they have shown to not back down with the odds stacked against them.
The hope is that the trend will continue this year, as virtually nobody is expecting the Knicks to come out on top in this series. New York has a lot to prove in this series, and even simply making it a competitive series could show something.
However, the Knicks want to do more than that and prove why they belong in the postseason. They will have the opportunity to start strong in Game 1 Monday night at the TD Garden.
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