May 23, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) looks on in the fourth quarter against the Indiana Pacers during game two of the eastern conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Knicks in Uncharted Waters Amidst Slipping Series

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated May 25, 2025 2:00 PM ET

The public perception surrounding the New York Knicks just two weeks ago reached as high a peak as their downtrodden fan base has seen in the 21st century.

They took a sudden 2-0 lead over the defending champion Celtics behind back-to-back gutsy fourth quarters, forcing the 3-point happy Boston offense into some stagnant sets that resulted in blown leads the team never came back from.

The Knicks had to make sure they didn't get too comfortable when they made their return to Madison Square Garden for Games 3 and 4; 2-0 deficits are hard to come back from, but far from impossible.

There have been 34 instances of teams going on to win four games in a series after fumbling the opening pair, including seven so far through the 2020s. The Knicks themselves were the last team to relent such a lead in last year's second round against, funny enough, the Indiana Pacers, who went on to reach the conference finals.

The Knicks held on to topple the Celtics, but find themselves in a similar hole against the last team to send them home. And while returns from 2-0 disadvantages have happened all throughout playoff history, especially in the first two rounds, history tells us that the Knicks face a particularly unlikely uphill battle for anyone still hopeful for their chances of advancing to the NBA Finals.

Teams in NBA history to come back from down 0-2 in Conference Finals after losing first 2 games at home:

None
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) May 24, 2025

The Knicks may have been doomed by their own amped-up home environment, a historic battleground that empowers opposing players to rise to the moment and continue adding to the clutch moments that have helped define the last 30 years of Knicks pain.

Indiana's own Reggie Miller once made a choking gesture at the crowd, so Tyrese Haliburton did the same during Game 1 when he handed New Yorkers another all-time defeat at the hands of the Pacers.

The Knicks, meanwhile, have failed to deliver consistent wins for their ravenous home crowd through three straight series. They dropped the ball two of the three times they hosted Detroit, and lost another in their first game at home against the Celtics. They'll have to return to their winning ways on the road if they want to pull off a miraculous return the NBA has never seen.

This article first appeared on New York Knicks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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