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New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers Linked For Trade – Sports Illustrated
05/08/2025 11:00:01
Deja 2!: Knicks come back from 20 again, stun Celtics for 2-0 series lead – amNewYork
05/08/2025 10:40:43
Celtics? greatest weapon is betraying them in disastrous Knicks series – Boston Herald
05/08/2025 10:06:21
Knicks take a 2-0 lead over the Celtics after coming from 20 down again to win 91-90 – News 12 – New Jersey
05/08/2025 08:43:03
Knicks ?outstanding? fourth quarter defense difference in the end – New York Post
05/08/2025 07:41:00
How to Buy Carmelo Anthony Mitchell & Ness New York Knicks Throwback Jersey – Newsweek
05/08/2025 08:12:01
5 Reasons the Boston Celtics Keep Choking vs. New York Knicks – Bleacher Report
05/08/2025 08:03:45
Knicks 91, Celtics 90: “What they gonna say now?” – Posting and Toasting
05/08/2025 07:14:52
Celtics vs. Knicks Game 3 prediction, how to watch, TV channel, odds – May 10 – FOX Sports
05/08/2025 07:24:58
Hart, Knicks win Game 2 against Celtics, take 2-0 series lead – Al Jazeera
05/08/2025 07:07:02
NBA Legend Charles Barkley Was Wrong About The New York Knicks – Sports Illustrated
05/08/2025 07:12:16
Tom Thibodeau explains how Knicks stopped Jayson Tatum – BasketNews.com
05/08/2025 07:34:00
Celtics-Knicks: 5 takeaways as New York storms back again to stun Boston – NBA
05/08/2025 06:02:34
Charles Barkley?s Strong Statement on Knicks After Game 2 vs. Celtics – Athlon Sports
05/08/2025 06:22:32
New York Knicks vs. Boston Celtics – Final Score – May 07, 2025 – FOX Sports
05/08/2025 06:01:40
Full Focus: Knicks rally in Game 2, stun Celtics again – NBA
05/08/2025 05:46:30
Callahan: Jayson Tatum put the Celtics in a 2-0 hole against the Knicks – Boston Herald
05/08/2025 06:11:15
Knicks rally for another road win over Celtics, lead set 2-0 – 1330 & 101.5 WHBL
05/08/2025 06:25:12
Charles Barkley Draws Attention After Complaining About NBA?s Celtics-Knicks Decision – Athlon Sports
05/08/2025 05:48:41
Celtics vs. Knicks score: Jalen Brunson leads eerily similar Game 2 comeback, Boston blows 20-point lead again – CBS Sports
05/08/2025 05:06:14
63 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2025.05.08)”
Great Win!!!
I fell asleep somewhere in the 3rd quarter when the Celtics were on a little run (but still not up by 20) and I was feeling like we were squandering a chance because, while our offense was bad, Boston was unable to shook loose.
After Game-1 there was a little voice in the back of my head whispering we had a run somewhere, we just had to find it.
Watching the rest of the game this morning, without knowing the final score, was another gift in what has been a crazy (and draining) stretch for my sports fandom*.
Thoughts:
– The Atomic Cockroaches are back!
The resiliency of this team is a pleasant surprise.
On balance they’re maddening, they play so bad for long stretches, then they play like potential champs, but in the end we’re always in a one possession game.
It’s the only thing, but it’s a HUGE thing, I give Thibs credit for this team sometimes perceived as lazy and feeble* instead never quits.
– I think we had another strong defensive game and Mitch was a wall. Josh’s and KAT’s offense kept us in the game before JB and Mikal took over.
– Bridges’ 4th quarter metamorphosis in the last two games has no rational explanation, we just have to take it and rejoice.
Yesterday he was scoreless before the 4th (0-8 FG), he scored 14 points (4-4 2FG, 2-6 3FG) in the last stanza.
His final defensive plays in the last two games** have earned a well deserved spot in Knicks’s history book.
– The series is far from over, we absolutely need to win one in MSG.
The good news, we are up 2-0 and we haven’t really played our best basketball on offense, there are things to clean up (turnovers, defensive boards) and open shots should start to go in.
The bad news, Boston has shot 25% from three in both games, how long could the cold spell go on***?
Will Mazzulla show that he’s a coach?
– Speaking of Mazzulla, I used to clown him for his use of timeouts, but I thought it was over after last year. It turned out he isn’t.
Anyway, Boston has high BB-IQ players (JRue, White, Horford) but his floor leader isn’t one of them.
Tatum’s decision making isn’t great and one should really question their coach when, like in Game-1, they completely refused to attack us despite our foul troubles (19 threes on 20 shots in the 3rd period!).
Good for us and please keep it goin’ leprechauns.
– The refs have been terrible, they are letting assault and battery fouls go scot free then they whistle someone for blowing kisses.
You literally never know what they’re going to do, it’s like they had some kind of Wheel of Fortune app in their hands and decide based on it.
Pretty annoying.
* 3 OT wins (all combacks) plus yesterday 20-points comeback in 48 hours.
** at least based on the Regular Season
*** Two-More-Games! Two-More-Games!
BigBlueALsays:
May 7, 2025 at 20:36
It might take a miracle but hopefully Knicks return to Boston for Game 5 tied 2-2.
Please take this back BBA!
Mitch Mitch!
He’s been so good.
I hosted a charity event last night, which I can only describe as the fastest four hours of my life, so I caught literally nothing. I checked the score one time. I vividly recall it was 81-65 in the 4Q and I thought “typical NBA, home team down 0-1 wins easy, Celtics probably got a great whistle.”
A woman named Ali MacNeil comes up to say good night, she’s leaving. I give her a hug. We lament the Knicks loss and carry on.
Approximately 90 seconds later I see her running across the ballroom towards me. She says we won and I don’t believe her. She shows me the score and I still don’t believe her. It’s 91-90, there must be 4 minutes left or something. She points to the word Final and I still don’t believe it! So then I open up my phone, because I don’t know why, maybe I thought she had the wrong version of the internet or something and my phone had the right one. I didn’t even have to open the ESPN app I could tell we won by the number of text messages I had.
Remarkable.
Just box score perusing it seems like Mitch is the key here. Or maybe it’s just not having KAT out there at C. It looks like they must have done the big lineup a little bit, I’m curious how that went. Also noticed Josh Hart was the leading scorer in a Knicks Celtics game. I bet you could have gotten good odds on that.
Incredibly excited but also know it’s far from over. The next two wins are going to be hard AF. The crowd ain’t gonna win it for us. A timely remarkable offensive KAT game might. 21 & 17 looks like a good line but I’m talking about one of those 40 point games where no one can stop him. I’d like to order one of those.
Crazy to think that against the Celtics of all teams, the double big lineup seems to be the key. Just unreal.
by the way – not to give anyone PTSD here but 7 years ago yesterday, the Knicks also made NBA news –> David Fizdale hired as coach. Just unbelievable how Leon and co – who definitely have not done a perfect job — have changed the franchise. Just think about how incompetent that former front office with Steve Mills as GM was. I mean just LOOK at this eye-melting history.
But he DID draft Mitchell Robinson.
And he DID sign Julius, who started the turnaround.
He was unstoppable for large chunks of the game last night. If anything, they didn’t use him enough.
The Knicks scored 91 points last night. Luckily, they’re playing a team coached by Joe Mazzulla.
Among his other massive errors, really weird that Mazzulla didn’t put Porzingis back in the game last night. He played great in that stretch in the third where Boston pulled away. Uncle Al’s running on fumes at this point.
Dude’s just a terrible coach. Healthy 2023 Knick team with Josh Hart playing this way would have beat him in the playoffs if they’d gotten by Miami.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJYHHrExm-N/?igsh=MWozdGp5Z2FyOG5tNw==
Anyone else think Monica McNutt is the platonic ideal of a woman?
I grew up listening to Breen & Clyde on the radio (I had no access to cable tv). Monica is such a worthy heir to Frazier. The absolute best.
When Boston was up 20 they had an easy two-on-one, Tatum and Brown, and Tatum got fancy and cocky and douchey and threw the ball away.
Can’t waste a single possession in the playoffs. Ball don’t lie.
I saw 4 fouls in the box score and just assumed he took himself out of the game. He seems to do that a lot. Also when Brunson gets going in the 4th he tends to do almost nothing.
When the time comes for Clyde to inevitably step away from broadcasting i really hope the org gives Monica a chance to make it her role, I love her reactions and her insight.
I just realized that they had Brunson on the floor in the last defensive possession (because he shot FTs) and Boston’s plan was to attack Mitch and OG (with Mikal on help). Amazing stuff.
Reposting….
The thing I woke up thinking about was the Holliday foul. It was so strange how he defended Brunson on that play and how easily he conceded two free throws. Frankly quite bizarre, so unlike Jrue to defend like a chicken with his head cut off
Mazzulla said in his postgame press conference that he didn’t call a TO because he wanted to run the same “play” that had gotten the Tatum dunk on the previous possession, which I mean, it’s hard to think of anything more stupid than that.
Thx for that link to Monica. So amazing.
Knicks down to 10 to 1 to win it all. Quite happy with the 28 to 1.
There’s certainly a big part of me saying “Pump the brakes, the Celtics just missed a bunch of open shots,” but we’ll see. That’s why they play the games. If the game’s close, the Knicks are smarter and more resiliant and not coached by a buffoon, so they got that going for them.
Celtics are favored by 5 in Game 3.
Brian’s point about narrative stands even in victory. In both games we were fingertips away from moaning and groaning and calling for Thibs’s head (at least I was). Instead: “Ya gotta believe.” And I do!
I think it wasn’t just the Celtics missed a bunch of shots. Our defense was good. That said, the Celtics have been a better raid than home team all year, their backs are against the wall, and I expect to lose Saturday
This series is far from over. Advantage Knicks, but let’s not forget the Miami series a few years ago. The Celtics probably win that in 7 if Tatum doesn’t hurt his ankle early in game 7.
KAT was key last night. I’ve defended him all playoffs but last night he was the only one getting buckets in the first half. I think he had another 15 board game and his put back bucket at the end was key. And, maybe my eyes are lying, but I think he’s playing pretty good defense.
I mean, Boston is going to give it their all on Saturday and we cannot be complacent. But is it just me or is lost in all this “Boston just hasn’t hit their shots” narrative is the fact that WE have not played our best game either.
I mean, Brunson has been Captain Clutch in the 4th, OG had a great first game, Hart and KAT were good yesterday, Mikal has been stellar in the 4th…but the starting 5 as a whole has yet to just really click on offense in this series. I guess HATS off to the Celtics defense but if we can have a stretch or one game where Brunson has a classic Brunson game and KAT goes off while OG and Mikal are hitting their shots and Hart is doing his thing, I feel like we could blow these dudes out of the gym.
And I hope that is what happens in game 3. The home crowd gets us going and we smell blood and just fucking cook to start the game. Get up on these clowns early and they might just fold it up.
Also, anyone else think if we sweep or gentleman sweep the C’s, we might end this iteration of the Celtics? Brown and Tatum take up a huge chunk of their payroll. Horford is getting up there. They’re going to be way over the luxury tax. I think they have new owners coming in. If we embarrass them, they might just blow it all up.
Also, people say Brunson is bad on defense but the way he takes charges is so key. Brunson is so fucking tough and the way he’s willing to sacrifice his body with those charges…you gotta think his teammates see that from their captain and it inspires them.
Have we reached the point where people are willing to run it all back with the same team and some tweaks regardless of what happens from here?
Don’t let the excitement of the most unexpected 2-0 lead of my life distract you from the fact that the refs robbed OG Anunoby of what should’ve been the coolest highlight of the playoffs.
KP seemed to be playing well for them and was making a difference. Was surprised he didn’t get more time in 4th
RE KP: Yeah agree he was doing well. Interviewed after the game, he said he just couldn’t go, due to unknown medical issues. NYPost story on it.
That dunk was INSANE.
OG is lucky he didn’t get hurt on that – looked like one of his feet landed on White’s lower leg – could easily have tweaked an ankle there.
I am actually really glad that OG played “only” 38 minutes last night — he’s working so hard every game, and it was the 2nd round last year that he got the hamstring strain after playing so many minutes.
My god, E is now a Thibs believer. (Or, at least, doesn’t think Thibs is the worst coach in the NBA.)
Absolutely not.
You make a decision based on the totality of evidence, not on the excitement of two unexpected results. And there’s still a lot of evidence forthcoming.
That Monica McNutt clip is incredible. To be able to go from as shocked and giddy as she was at seeing the block to being able to be that composed and articulate and smart in her observations is… that’s someone who can somehow juggle being a fan and being a total pro.
I think the question for the rest of the series is whether the Knicks’ overall offense can improve enough to compensate for any positive shooting variance from the Celtics. I think we all agree that the Knicks’ offense has been subpar. I’d love to see Boston having a normal shooting night but losing because the Knicks level up their offense as we know they can at times.
It truly was. Brunson could have gotten an and-1 in that play, it was so uncharacteristic. He did guard Brunson really well throughout the game, but seemed frazzled there.
Seemed like Holliday was going for a steal. If Brunson doesn’t hold onto the call and get a shot up, they may not have called a reach in but Brunson was able to stay with it. I agree it was very weird though.
The thing with variance is that you don’t take past results when projecting forward. So the Celtics are just as likely to under perform with their shooting in the next game as they were in the last game. And with potentially 5 games left, it starts to become statistically likely that they still have some under performances ahead of them.
I mean, I hear ya but I feel like the consensus before this series was that if we won 2 or 3 games, that would prove that we were closer to being real contenders than pretenders and people would want to run it back.
Is it because we won these games so close? I don’t remember what your exact stance on this was but, for me, beyond whatever “shortcomings” we see with the team, winning these 2 games has validated that the the core guys (the starting 5 plus Mitch and McBride) have earned the opportunity to run it back because they have shown the mental toughness and togetherness that many thought the team lacked going into the playoffs. The “soft” label is forever put to bed with this bunch.
I mean, I guess if Giannis is desperate to come here then we gotta go for that but beyond Giannis or Jokic forcing a trade here, I don’t see why we would trade Bridges or KAT or whoever to reconfigure the team again.
Get Mitch to work on his hands and free throws. Fill out the bench some with a few ring chasing vets who would be an upgrade over Cam and Shamet. Develop Huk and Kolek. Continue to work on improving the offense.
For me, these dudes have earned that. Plus, like we might literally end the celtics with this series. That would basically put us (and Cleveland) at the top of the heap in the east, no?
Folks, we have plenty of time in the offseason to talk about team changes.
The Knicks just had what I think is probably the most incredible 72 hours in the 21st century. And they haven’t even played well offensively! Can we enjoy that?
PS: I recommend the Game Theory podcast with Sam Vecenie, today’s episode had a few interesting nuggets on what the Knicks are doing to the Celtics defensively.
PS2: Warts and all, I love KAT: https://x.com/StephNoh/status/1920292111921918223
I honestly don’t remember that consensus.
Two points are the difference between 0-2 and 2-0. Let’s enjoy the fuck out of this run and judge everyone when it’s over.
I kinda want to trade KAT right now, for instance. But he might be the key to beating Indiana. We’ll have plenty of time in the summer to discuss.
i’m almost 61…in my lifetime…i can’t recall beating boston two in a row on their homecourt…even more so …in the playoffs..it probably has happened but not many times…anyway…homecourt isn’t/hasn’t been a big advantage for us it seems like this year and obviously in the last series…but…its does feel a bit like something karmically is happening on the good side for us…which is unsettling..because in the last 3 or 4 decades…it hasn’t…
Yes, definitely, but I’m having a hard time talking about these two games beyond HOLY SHIT!!! It’s all so unbelievable.
One consensus I will say might be getting reached is that Mikal Bridges can stay 🙂
His season reminds me so much of Xavier McDaniel’s it’s uncanny.
Why and for what? We lose yesterday without KAT carrying the offense in the first half.
KAT did an admirable job of finding out how to affect the game positively on the offensive end. He’s gonna have a face hugger on every three he dreams about in this series but at least he remembered that he’s bigger and that bending a defense isn’t just ATB. On defense, without Mitch, danger will robinson.
Man, that hadn’t occurred to me, but yes. Mikal’s doing it in a different way from X-Man in those playoffs, where McDaniel was just beating dudes up. But the the narrative is startlingly similar: seemingly no-brainer acquisition to solve a problem on the wing and with secondary scoring, super blah regular season, and then kicks major ass once the playoffs begin.
If we really can close out Boston, Bridges (and his steals) also reminds of me Aaron Boone’s Yankee season as a player. Total meh and below expectation (for me), but we’ll never forget that walk-off.
Bc it’s an emotional response to seeing us play much better with Mitch that makes me want to get rid of his terrible defense and replace him with players who can support this switch-heavy scheme better.
Which is why I don’t think we should be drawing conclusions now. I want to experience these emotions, I don’t want to make decisions in them.
Holiday’s defense Brunson on the penultimate play really was so weird. As others have mentioned it’s like he wasn’t even trying to, you know, defend Brunson. He basically hacked him as if he were Mitch.
Mitch being absolutely enormous in this series has to be the most surprising aspect of it so far (aside from the results through two games), right? The Celtics’ offense seems shockingly discombobulated regardless of who’s in the game, but with Mitch out there it absolutely disintegrates such that they are racking up fouls to get him out of the game. It’s crazy.
Also it’s been understandably memory holed since he wasn’t a huge factor in the last few minutes, but considering the stakes that was the most important game of KAT’s Knicks career. He hung in there on switches defensively, finally punished switches offensively, and a lot of his rebounds were contested and crucial. I still want a lot more 3PA from him, but KAT is a certified dawg.
Another video that will warm your hearts:
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTjUAQXF2/
She wants security to remove these guys because they are rooting for the visiting team.
Worthy of wonder whether he was confused by the penalty situation, since they’d hack-a-Mitched their way to the penalty by that point.(*) Little doubt in this observer’s eyes that Mazzulla didn’t communicate the precise foul situation to his team before that possession or, really, at any time and obviously barely nodded in the direction of the big picture when fouling to reach the penalty … down the stretch of a close game.
(*) Which was really fucking stupid.
KAT was awesome last night. Twenty-one and 17 taken for granted — yeah, that’s a highly worthy player.
Sort of a perfect storm emerging here, as Boston has shriveled up like a puny little raisin in Q4 in back to back games, their coach pushes every wrong button at the wrong time, they have a key player (Horford) who suddenly looks washed, and another key player (KP) who is effective but can’t get on the floor for what seems like bizarre reasons. You have one of the best defenders in the NBA (Jrue) gifting us crucial free throws with a dumb and blatantly obvious foul, and superstars (Tatum) missing unguarded corner threes.
I rewatched the last six minutes of the game a second time late at night and it was truly remarkable. The whole Celtics team and coaching staff got the collective yips after just sort of casually dominating the first 40 minutes or so of the game. For the second straight game!
NYK didn’t play great in either game, but they stuck around, made plays when they could, and were in position to take advantage when Boston wilted. TWICE!
I have no idea how to predict the rest of this series and I honestly don’t care. This is just such a massive unexpected plot twist to this season, which has been very frustrating a lot of the time. I did not have “The Knicks didn’t play all that well in either game but left Boston with a 2-0 lead” on my bingo card.
The dip in efficiency from the Celtics 3point shooting feels trendy considering the Orlando series. 25 – 100 feels like a reasonably ridiculous number to land at after two games. But we’re considerably better than Orlando. Celts only shot 31% against the Magic down from 37% in season. Maybe they’re just good at being healthier and deeper.
What exactly WAS the point of that little run of Hack-A-Mitch? I guess they wanted him off the floor, or at least to put the Knicks in a position where he might have to take FTs, but wow did that blow up in their face.
There’s no conceivable scenario in which it makes sense to intentionally put an NBA team in the penalty in the fourth quarter of a close, low-scoring playoff game.
Jrue played that possession like he was confused. Was he actually confused? Those that know won’t say, so we’ll never know, but I know what I think and have no compunction saying.
Playoff Bridges and Captain Clutch. I can’t imagine what MSG will be like Saturday. Last night was my wife’s birthday game. She wears an old Melo jersey when we watch the games.
And stop the clock while leading.
Gotta be Mazzula thought he was already in the penalty. Even Thibs was gonna take Mitch out, then sent him back in to get another foul. hahaha.
Alan, that “Security, help!” vid has gotta be the meme of the series. hahaha.
What you do when you’re running low on fouls in the last 5-6 minutes is that you amp up your defense and aggression even more and get way up in the other team’s grill because you can afford the fouls.
That’s what normal teams do anyway. When Joe M’s your coach, I guess you foul on purpose to put the other team in the penalty.
This is great, but here’s the most heart-warming thing I watched last night:
Narrative is powerful. It can gnaw at the back of your consciousness until your medulla oblongatta goes yip. Cs last night played scared.
Security, HELP!
Won despite bad offensive games from JB, OG, and Mikal, only shot 29% from 3, didn’t get a friendly whistle. Really incredible performance from Josh & KAT to keep it from completely falling apart most of the game.
This was insane. OG was pulled back from the scorers table and Mazulla still went ahead with the pointless foul knowing that Thibs would sub Mitch anyway before he went to the FT line.
The most surprising thing to me about this series so far is that I thought if we had any chance it was going to be making adjustments to our offense and outscoring them because we have way more talent on offense than the results this season or against the Pistons suggested.
Instead, the defense has stepped up.
We knew Mitch would help, but he appears to be having a big impact.
Our trio of Mitch, OG and Mikal had 10 steals last night.
They are a defensive force, as is Deuce.
Sure, the Celtics are missing shots, but I’m not giving them all the credit (or blame) for that. I think our defense has been much better than in the regular season. So even though our offense is not playing up to its potential, the defense is getting us back into games and closing them out.
One other thing. I have no idea what Leon is thinking about the off season, but Mitch’s value is a LOT higher now than it was at the trade deadline. So far he’s holding up and showing he can still have an impact on a game despite limited skill on offense. There are teams out there that need that (including us). It’s just a matter of whether there’s something out there we need even more and whether Huk can take over Mitch’s role successfully.
I’m guessing the Boston brain trust can read the box score as well as we can. The Knicks are +32 in MR’s 43 minutes on the floor. Getting Thibs to take him off the floor voluntarily seems pretty smart.
Damn, I was on the wrong side of one of those. Sommer did have some amazing saves.
Unpopular opinion: OG’s dunk was indeed an offensive foul, and White is crazy for taking that contact.
Jrue’s “defense” on that possession is so inexplicable I might be on board with E’s theory. He was doing everything you do when you’re trying to intentionally hack someone. This is a guy who has been on all-defense teams for the last 4 seasons.
Mitch didn’t have a lot of time to get up to speed after returning from his injury, and his timing still doesn’t look great. The Knicks didn’t play the two bigs configuration much after his return, and he was on a minutes restriction.
But he’s still a difference maker on defense, and it is looking like he is rounding into good form at just the right time. He gives us a look we have not had all season. Very eye opening how much better he is than Precious Achiuwa and Jericho Sims.
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