Coming off a six-game series victory against the Boston Celtics, the New York Knicks are heading towards the Eastern Conference Finals and the franchise key stars displayed a clear message by having their key stars by "turn[ing] down free bottles of champagne while celebrating their series win over [the] Boston Celtics" with A-listers Timothée Chalamet and Russell Wilson.
With the franchise heading towards their first conference finals since the start of the century, Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns,Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, and Miles McBride are kings of New York after beating the Boston Celtics and could have cashed in on this by joining on in the massive celebration that is going on in the city.
Brunson has once again played like a top-5 player in the league averaging 28.8 points, 7.7 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game on 44 percent shooting once again taking his place among the league's best. Towns has been a double-double machine these playoffs averaging 19.8 points and 11.3 rebounds in the playoffs so far on 48 percent shooting. Hart and Anunoby have acted like defensive stars in this series playing extremely well on both ends of the floor.
McBride has struggled at times on the offensive end this postseason but has provided a strong defensive presence that will likely be needed in the ECF series against stars Tyrese Hailburton. Additionally, the franchise will need Anunoby on the defensive end if they are able to contain Pascal Siakam in this series. Despite having a good offense this postseason, it's clear that the Knicks will need a showcase their defensive strengths if they want to beat the Pacers and make the NBA finals.
New York likely needs defensive strengths to make NBA finals
While the team's mentality is great to have, it's clear that the franchise will probably need to lockdown Haliburton and Pascal Siakam in this series. Indiana will probably be able to hack-a-shaq Mitchell Robinson in this series to a vary level degree of success. With that in mind, it's fair to say that the Pacers will likely be heading towards the NBA finals if they are able to turn these games into a offensive showdown.
Hart, Bridges, and possibly McBride will probably be able to contain the Pacers All-NBA Haliburton but the franchise probably needs to limit Siakam and Myles Turner if they want to win this series. The New York Knicks decided to not indulge themselves with A-list celebrities after advancing to the conference finals and that choice clearly shows a message to the Pacers ahead of their showdown in the ECF.