Knicks’ Hustle Puts Celtics on the Ropes

The New York Knicks seemingly spent the entirety of their regular season demonstrating their sound standing as a second-tier contender.

Some of their highest-profile moves of the last few seasons have seemingly been made with the intention of stopping the Celtics, with fringe-All-Star wings like OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges each brought aboard with the intention of slowing down Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in a big game.

It looked like their plan would be for naught, with the Celtics winning all four of their matchups against New York this past season, enabling just about everyone to pick them over the Knicks when they drew the reigning champions in the second round of these playoffs.

Not only have the Knicks' wings soundly outplayed the Celtics stars, with Anunoby playing consistent defense all game before Bridges makes routine clutch stops like he did with Game 1's tie-up and Game 2's block, but all of Boston has looked sluggish. They're getting beaten on the margins, losing every loose ball and giving up big play after big play in these close second halves.

A lot of that chaos can be attributed to New York's role players, who took it to the Celtics in a dramatic Game 2 victory. Mitchell Robinson, in particular, offered a much-needed defensive presence in backing up Karl-Anthony Towns. He's the Knicks' best rim protector and block collector, but can hang comfortable on the perimeter against Jayson Tatum. Just look at the play that sealed Boston's 0-2 deficit, where Robinson funnels the ball handler away from an isolation situation into triple coverage.