Knicks believe they can give the Celtics a good battle
New York Knicks guard Josh Hart, right, celebrates with guard Jalen Brunson in Game 6 against the Pistons. Credit: AP
BOSTON — The Knicks have had an entire season to go through the entire range of emotions regarding the task they face starting Monday night at TD Garden. And after hope, disappointment, panic and frustration, now they enter the Eastern Conference semifinals clinging to the latest mood.
Belief.
It is one of those times when perhaps they are alone, the players and coaches in the locker room, if they truly believe. They’re dragging along a fan base that has hope, but certainly skepticism.
The Knicks were chasing the Celtics a year ago when their season ended in a series of injuries and Boston went on to win the NBA title. The Knicks spent the summer trying to figure out ways to close the gap, followed by four regular-season meetings that put on display just how far they had to go.
“We all have confidence,” Josh Hart said. “It’s idiotic to play a game if you don’t go in with confidence. If you don’t go in to win, you shouldn’t go out there.
“So we’re confident with the team that we have. We’re confident with the coaching staff that we have. And I’m sure vice versa for them. So it goes down to execution, goes down to physicality, mental toughness, all those kinds of things. We’re always confident in ourselves. And if you’re not confident, like I said, you shouldn’t be out there.”
There might have been times this season when that seemed like a good idea — not showing up. Consider opening night, when the Knicks waited through the Celtics’ ring ceremony and then fell behind by as many as 35 points. The next two tests were conducted without the rings, but little else was different as the Knicks fell behind by 35 and 27 points. A late-season overtime loss to Boston capped the sweep and set the stage for this intimidating task.
There are strategic changes and tweaks the Knicks can point to and create a narrative that the series can be something different. Coach Tom Thibodeau can devise a scheme to slow down the Celtics’ three-point shot barrage. After the Celtics launched 48.2 per game this season (48.3 against the Knicks), they shot only 31 per game against Orlando in the first round of the playoffs. The Knicks can point to OG Anunoby’s defense on the Pistons’ Cade Cunningham in the opening round and translate that to a similar effort against Jayson Tatum.
But it starts again with belief.
“I feel like when you are going through a season and have different ups and downs and you go through a lot of things, it tends to bring a team together,” Jalen Brunson said. “Regardless of how we won that series, we are moving on and we’re getting better and we have another chance to continue to get better.”
“End of the regular season was, what, April 12?” Hart said. “We’re probably about 26 days, roughly 26 days older. I think we are all playing well. I think we’re all clicking. I think obviously there are peaks and valleys during the course of the game, but I think the confidence that we have in each other is at a very high level.
“And I think that’s huge offensively but more important defensively. This is going to be a huge defensive series for us. We’ve got to make sure we guard our yard. We’ve got to make sure we’re on point with our rotations. Communication is going to be huge. They’re the defending champs and it’s not going to be a cakewalk. [We have to] go in there and be locked [in].”
Both teams are entering the series at full strength. The Celtics are listing Jrue Holiday, who sat out the final three games of the opening round, as available, and the Knicks made no mention on the injury report of any of the bumps and bruises accumulated in the first-round win over Detroit.
The Celtics had a little extra time to prepare, wrapping their series up in five games while the Knicks had to sweat out the final seconds of Game 6 in Detroit. But that’s the past, and the Knicks insist they are ready now.
“You take it play by play,” Thibodeau said. “Like any game. You’re on the road, so it’s a different environment. But don’t lose sight of what’s important. Focus on the task at hand. It’s us against everybody. So let’s go.”
With Denis P. Gorman
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
