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The Knicks are awaiting their second-round opponent in the NBA playoffs, which will be determined after the Celtics vs. 76ers Game 7. Jalen Brunson emphasizes the need for the team to refocus after their first-round victory over the Hawks.
ATLANTA â The Knicks donât know yet who they will face in the second round of the NBA playoffs.
That wonât be determined until Saturday night, when the Boston Celtics host the Philadelphia 76ers in a winner-take-all Game 7 at TD Garden.
But by the time the Knicks do take the court again for Game 1, Jalen Brunson wants their first-round series victory over the Atlanta Hawks to be a distant memory.
âItâs good to celebrate the wins, but I mean, we canât let it drag on,â Brunson said after Thursday nightâs series-clinching 140-89 win at State Farm Arena.
âWe have to focus up. Wake up tomorrow, and itâs on to the next.â
As the playoffs approached, it was easy to circle a second-round rematch between the second-seeded Celtics and third-seeded Knicks as a must-see pairing.
Last postseason, the Knicks eliminated the Celtics in six games in a second-round series in which Boston star Jayson Tatum suffered a right Achilles tear in Game 4.
Tatum defied the odds by returning less than 10 months later and helped the Celtics jump out to a 3-1 series lead over the seventh-seeded Sixers. But Philadelphia has since won back-to-back elimination games â including a 106-93 victory in Game 6 on Thursday night â to even the series at 3-3.
Tatum dealt with discomfort in his left leg during Thursdayâs loss and sat out of the fourth quarter, but he downplayed his concerns afterward.
All of that is out of the Knicksâ control.
The Knicks will face either the Boston Celtics or the Philadelphia 76ers, depending on the outcome of their Game 7.
Jalen Brunson stated that while it's good to celebrate the wins, the team must not let it linger and needs to focus on the next challenge.
The Game 7 between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers is scheduled for Saturday night.
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All they can focus on at the moment is regrouping after a first-round series in which they dropped two of the first three games, then overwhelmed the upstart Hawks with back-to-back-to-back blowout victories.
âDuring this series, we didnât play our best basketball,â Karl-Anthony Towns said after recording his second triple-double of the series in Game 6 â a historic rout in which the Knicks at one point led by 61.
âFor us to make a statement about who we could be when weâre clicking on all cylinders [is important]. Itâs great for us to have this kind of tape, so that we can look back at it and see, when weâre playing our best, what are we doing correctly? But itâs about consistency in the playoffs. How many times can we do that in a seven-game series?â
The Knicks also have recent playoff history with the Sixers, whom they defeated in six games in the first round in 2024.
This yearâs 76ers finished 45-37 in the regular season, but their starting lineup often wasnât whole. Thatâs why the Sixers â with a star-powered core of Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe and Paul George â arenât your typical 7-seed.
The Knicks went 2-2 against Philadelphia in the regular season. They went 3-1 against Boston but did not face the Celtics in a game in which Tatum and Jaylen Brown both played.
Extra rest figures to benefit the Knicks, especially as the two teams vying to face them in the second round engage in a do-or-die battle on Saturday.
The Knicks plan to be mentally prepared, too.
âItâs something that weâre going to have to flush, and turn the page and get ready,â Brunson said of the Hawks series. âHappy with the way we performed, but itâs time to turn the page and refocus.â