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The Knicks completed a 4-0 sweep of the 76ers, showcasing a newfound consistency and desperation to end their 53-year championship drought. They aim to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
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Mikal Bridges stood at his locker after the Knicks completed a 4-0 second-round sweep of the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday and summed up the biggest difference between this Knicks team and the flawed, inconsistent versions of years past.
“Being able to play desperate even being up 3-0,” he said. “Shoutouts to everybody: Shoutouts to the coaches and everybody who played tonight.”
The Knicks do look desperate.
Desperate to end a 53-year NBA championship drought. Desperate to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. And desperate enough to understand, after letting two games slip away against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, that easing off the gas for even a moment can get a season killed in the playoffs.
Desperation looks good on these Knicks. The biggest question entering a playoff run with clear-stated championship expectations was whether or not they could remain consistent, a fair question for a team that won the NBA Cup Final, then almost immediately went on a stretch of nine losses in 11 games.
The answer has been a resounding yes. The Knicks are going to the Eastern Conference Finals for a second year in a row. Their margin of victory over the last six games — from Game 4 of their first-round series through the four-game sweep of the 76ers — has been a comical 175 combined points, winning lottery ticket-type numbers (16, 29, 51, 39, 6, 4, and 30) for an organization that’s hit the NBA jackpot.
It’s one thing to win a playoff series by the skin of your teeth. It’s another beast entirely to, in series-clinching victories during this playoff run, close out opponents by a total of 81 points through the first two rounds.
“Closeout games are the hardest games to play, because of the level of desperation from the other team, especially when you’re on the road and you factor in your opponent’s home crowd — so, I give our guys a lot of credit,” said head coach Mike Brown. “I give my staff a ton of credit. My staff has been unbelievable from top to bottom. They’ve been really, really, really good in our preparation and making sure guys understand what we need to do so that they can stay focused on the details at hand.”
The Knicks have found the very consistency that’s evaded them in the past. They look nothing like the team that lost nine out of an 11-game stretch coming into the 2026 calendar year, the team that nearly imploded as the Feb. 5 NBA Trade Deadline loomed midseason.
The Knicks swept the Philadelphia 76ers 4-0 in the second round.
The Knicks aim to end a 53-year championship drought and reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
The Knicks previously struggled with consistency, highlighted by a stretch of nine losses in 11 games after winning the NBA Cup Final.
Mikal Bridges commented on the Knicks' performance, emphasizing their ability to play with desperation even while leading 3-0.
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Josh Hart credited it a “tapping the rocks mentality,” that if the Knicks stuck to the plan, they would eventually break through — the gold miner who chips away until he strikes gold.
“It just didn’t happen overnight. It was a process of trial and error and figuring things out, figuring out where everyone wants the ball, new system, new coaches, stuff like that,” Hart said at his locker after Game 4. “So I think we’re in a good little flow state right now, but we’ve got to make sure we continue to get better and not be complacent.”
The Knicks still believe they still have another gear to reach. They defeated the Sixers in Games 3 and 4 without OG Anunoby, who now has at least a week to recover from the hamstring strain he sustained in Game 2. Anunoby has been the team’s most impactful defender — though Mikal Bridges all-but neutralized Tyrese Maxey in the second round. The star Knicks forward battling an injury is also averaging 21 points per game in the playoffs.
“We’re gonna hold it down for OG and do whatever it takes and hopefully give him some more time to heal up, but next man up,” Bridges said. “We’ve got a lot of talent on this team, a lot of smart IQ guys and we’re gonna hold it down for OG and anybody else who gets hurt.
For now, the Knicks will await the winner of the Detroit Pistons-Cleveland Cavaliers second-round playoff series. The expectation is for the 60-win Pistons to meet the Knicks in the conference finals for a rematch of last year’s first-round matchup.
The Pistons have beaten the Knicks six out of their last seven regular-season matchups, including wins by 31 and 37 this season, plus a 15-point win with both Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart serving suspensions.
Those Pistons, however, didn’t beat these Knicks. They beat the Knicks of yesterday. And if the Knicks of today are the Knicks of tomorrow, they’re a team worthy of representing the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals.
“[This season] was a rollercoaster for sure. I think outside the Knicks organization, things looked worse than what they were from the outside looking in,” said Jalen Brunson. “But inside the building, we were working every single day to be the best team we can be. That’s all we were focusing on. There were times when there were positives and negatives, ups and downs. But that’s what our goals were. And that’s still our goal. Be the best we can be. Continue to learn. Continue to get better. The journey shows you who you are.”