The 2024 New York Knicks offseason might go down as one of the most impactful in franchise history. A complete roster overhaul from the 2023-24 season saw the departures of Isaiah Hartenstein, Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and Bojan Bogdanovic. In return, the Knicks re-signed OG Anunoby, traded five first-round picks for Mikal Bridges, and landed Karl-Anthony Towns.
The hype was real — fans hadn’t been this excited since 2013. The Knicks had finally built a super team. The result? Just one more win than last year, an 0-10 record against 60-win teams, and a third seed in the Eastern Conference. To top it off, their first-round series against the Detroit Pistons took six games to complete — a series many thought would be over before it began.
After Jalen Brunson’s heroics saved the Knicks from complacency in Round 1, they advanced to the second round to face the Boston Celtics — the same team they couldn’t beat during the regular season. The defending champions unleashed a barrage of 3-pointers, with Payton Pritchard stepping up and Jayson Tatum leading the way. Surely the Knicks wouldn’t stand a chance… right?
This Knicks roster was built to beat the Celtics
But those offseason risks became the X-factors when the team needed them most. The biggest acquisition, Karl-Anthony Towns, entered the series with a big question mark. Despite delivering two monster performances against the Celtics during the regular season, foul trouble limited him to 14 points in Game 1. However, he still grabbed 14 rebounds, including four on the offensive glass. Shifting away from scoring once Brunson heated up, Towns made his presence felt on defense — rotating on the perimeter and closing out on shooters.
Then there was OG Anunoby, the Knicks’ hidden golden goose. He dropped 20 of his 29 points in the second half, including four clutch 3-pointers that helped cut the deficit. On defense, he was even better — holding Celtics players to a dismal 2-for-18 from the field. This elite defense is exactly why the Knicks signed him to a five-year, $212 million contract. Anunoby isn’t just a former NBA champion — he’s bringing that winning mentality to this Knicks roster.
Meanwhile, Mikal Bridges might have been the star of Game 1. Logging a game-high 51 minutes, he tallied eight points, six rebounds, seven assists, three steals, and two blocks. In overtime, Bridges made his mark with two steals and a block in just over four minutes. He didn’t even allow Jaylen Brown to get a shot off to tie the game — ripping the ball away and sealing a crucial win for the Knicks.
The Knicks didn’t just stick with last season’s roster — they took calculated risks that paid off. Yes, Boston missed plenty of wide-open 3s, but that wasn’t just bad luck — it was the Knicks’ pressure disrupting their rhythm. Sometimes, when a team is locked into one style of play, it can become their downfall.
Make no mistake: the Celtics don’t miss those shots unless the Knicks do something right. Whether it was clawing back from a 20-point deficit or hitting key 3-pointers, New York’s gambles are finally paying off — and at just the right moments.