It does not take much for championship-starved Big Apple basketball fans to daydream about what an NBA title run by the New York Knicks might look like.
The Knicks have given their fans even more reason to dream over the last 11 days.
The third-seeded Knicks will look to continue their dominant run and take a commanding lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals Wednesday night, when they host the seventh-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series.
Jalen Brunson scored 27 of his game-high 35 points in the first half Monday, when the Knicks rolled to a 137-98 victory.
The win was the fourth straight for the Knicks, who closed out the Atlanta Hawks with three consecutive lopsided victories in their six-game first-round series.
New York, which fell behind Atlanta with consecutive one-point losses in Games 2 and 3, beat the Hawks 114-98 in Game 4 on April 25 before routing them 126-97 in Game 5 on April 28 and 140-89 last Thursday night.
“You hope that at this time, you’re the best version of yourselves,” Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns said.
The best version of the Knicks has been historic. New York is the first NBA team to win three straight playoff games by at least 25 points apiece.
The Knicks are also the second team to end one series and begin another with consecutive victories by at least 30 points. The 1986 Boston Celtics beat the Hawks 132-99 to end an Eastern Conference semifinal series before routing the Milwaukee Bucks 128-96 in the Game 1 of the conference finals.
The Celtics went on to win the NBA title. These Knicks are 11 wins away from that destination — and unlike their fans, not quite ready to entertain such notions under Brunson, their famously tunnel-visioned captain.
“Honestly, you’ve got to take this game with a grain of salt and just kind of move forward,” Brunson said. “I don’t think we’re going to see that team that we saw in Game 1 in Game 2. They’re going to be ready to go.”
The loss wiped away any momentum the 76ers had after they advanced to the conference semifinals by overcoming a 3-1 series deficit against the Boston Celtics in the first round — the first such comeback in franchise history.
But the 76ers’ success against the Celtics serves as a reminder a series doesn’t have to be defined by one — or two — blowouts. Philadelphia’s Game 1 and Game 4 losses to Boston were each by 32 points.
The 76ers are hopeful they’ll benefit from a more routine prep for Game 2. The series opener Monday night tipped off fewer than 48 hours after Philadelphia’s 109-100 Game 7 win over the Celtics.
“Emotional rollercoaster — you go from a Game 7 and one day off and you are right back into another matchup,” 76ers forward Paul George said. “I think there was some carryover trying to get up and get prepared for this next matchup. But we should have done a better job.”
Apropos of emotions, head coach Nick Nurse was not with the 76ers on Tuesday but is scheduled to be at Madison Square Garden well before Game 2 tips off on Wednesday.
Nurse returned to Iowa for the funeral services of his older brother, Steve Nurse, who died unexpectedly at age 62 one day before Game 6 of the 76ers-Celtics series.
Philadelphia did not practice but the 76ers held a mandatory film session without their head coach present.
The 76ers had no shortage of areas that needed review on Tuesday’s off day. Philadelphia scored fewer than 100 points for just the seventh time in the last 37 games dating back to Feb. 19 while allowing the Knicks to shoot 63.1% from the field, a New York franchise record for a playoff game.
“Yeah, we had breakdowns (Monday), but they also shot the (heck) out of the ball,” George said. “It’s a game of adjustments. We’ll make adjustments, see what we need to get better at.
“But again, same as last series. They don’t get any points (in Game 2) for going up big (in Game 1).”
–Field Level Media
