Knicks Sure Look Like Biggest Threat to Celtics in East After Epic Game 2 Win

The search for the Eastern Conference's biggest threat to the Boston Celtics is officially over.

Because the New York Knicks just ended it.

Some will argue they closed the book on this already—long ago, even.

The OG Anunoby trade to close out 2023 turned out to be that impactful, diversifying and balancing the rotation, at both ends of the floor, in a way that made undeniable sense.

Still, injuries near the top of roster (including to Anunoby himself) coupled with a fuzzy regular-season pecking order left this matter very much up for debate even after New York bagged the East's No. 2 seed.

There's no need to hedge anymore following the Knicks' 2-for-2 start to the 2024 NBA playoffs.

If any doubt persisted it died on arrival during Monday's 104-101 Game 2 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, a gritty and chaotic win that can be distilled down to the bedlam that ensued over the final half-minute.

This mini-stretch will not only be most remembered (and revered) for whatever the hell happened here and the double "BANG!" it warranted:

But also for Isaiah Hartenstein doing, well, something very Isaiah Hartenstein of him when Tyrese Maxey dared to try finishing at the rim:

Barely holding serve at home against the seven-seed is not typically cause for profound proclamations. But the Sixers are not your average play-in team. Maxey and Joel Embiid are skeleton keys that unlock a path toward genuine contention.

Indeed, Embiid is not himself. He's just not. The left meniscus injury that sidelined him for about two months is still a problem, one he may have exacerbated by throwing a pass to himself off the backboard in Game 1:

(Quick aside: This self-oop was not particularly explosive, and Embiid appeared to aggravate his leg on the landing rather than the liftoff. Claiming he screwed up is tantamount to saying he shouldn't jump. And if he shouldn't jump, then he shouldn't be playing.)

Embiid's health, above all, is a fair caveat. He could hardly get up and down the floor by the end of Game 2. That he finished with 34 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and one block while disrupting and dissuading shots inside the paint for more than 39 minutes is freaking ridiculous.

If you ask Embiid and the Sixers, they'll also point to other caveats that have prevented them from seizing a 2-0 series lead of their own:

Questionable non-calls are definitely part of the Game 2 plot. But consider this your friendly reminder that no outcome hinges upon a handful of whistles and non-whistles, not even when it's your favorite team feeling scandalized. The Sixers held the lead for most of Game 2 and had over 47 minutes' worth of basketball to create and maintain further separation.

But this isn't about Philly. Not directly. This is about the Knicks, who keep spitting out big-time victories in the face of their own caveats.

Injuries could have impeded their ability to be here at all, in possession of the East's No. 2 seed. Mitchell Robinson, their intended starting center, missed most of the season following left ankle surgery. Julius Randle, their second most important shot creator, has not played since Jan. 27 after suffering a dislocated right shoulder that ultimately required surgery.

Meanwhile, New York turned over chunks of its roster midseason, most notably flipping RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley for Anunoby—who then proceeded to miss (basically) two months with a right elbow issue.

This alone isn't unique to the Knicks. The extremes to which injuries hit their core lineups stands out, but teams battle extended absences. It is part and parcel of the NBA-season gauntlet.

And in many ways, New York even benefitted from its misfortune, embarking on a months-long trek of self-discovery serving them well now.

From Robinson's absence came a new level of dependence on Hartenstein, who wrapped the regular season with a fringe All-Defense case (if he were eligible for inclusion) and ramped up his offensive facilitation. From the departures of Barrett and Quickley came a pathway to Deuce McBride minutes, in all their timely shot-making and feisty defensive glory.

From Randle's absence (and the roster churn) came, well, a lot.

There is Donte DiVincenzo letting 'er rip from downtown with historic volume and efficiency. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are the only other players to have seasons in which they logged at least 2,000 minutes, jacked over 15 triples per 100 possessions and nailed them at a 40 percent clip.

There is Josh Hart, who may never exit a game again, and who has peaked as a pace-setter and rebounder and playmaker.

There is head coach Tom Thibodeau, whose views on minutes management haven't changed, but who has channeled flexibility hardly recognizable from the (supposedly) rigid-beyond-reason curmudgeon on the hot seat not 18 months ago. From three-guard lineups and smaller 4s to a less predictable offensive structure and stomach for three-point volume, he is empirically different, if not reinvented.

Hell, there's even the front office, led by Leon Rose, which assembled New York's enviable depth over time and then had the gall and foresight to materially shake things up. The Anunoby acquisition mostly speaks for itself. Bojan Bogdanović's utility has been more of a slow burn, but it's paying dividends now, when it matters most, in the form of much-needed three-point makes.

Oh, and yeah, there's Jalen Brunson. He has parlayed a roster unfit to survive without him into a career year worthy of MVP votes. His ascent up the superstar ranks commingled with the Knicks' depth has positioned this team to be exactly what its postseason seed suggests: the East's only hope of derailing the Celtics' seemingly wide-open path to the NBA Finals.

Granted, Brunson is having far from a banner postseason. Through two games, he's shooting 32.6 percent on twos (14-of-43) and 16.7 percent on threes (2-of-12). The Sixers have thrown the kitchen sink at him, and he's been visibly knocked off-kilter by their size and pressure once he's in the paint, but he's also missed a good amount of makeable looks from floater range—especially by his standards.

This is also sort of the point. Brunson has yet to go full Brunson. (He deserves credit for his playmaking in traffic.) New York is up 2-0 against a team universally considered not-your-average-seven-seed anyway.

Little suggest things will change now. The Knicks' depth isn't going anywhere. Nor is their commitment to the offensive glass. (They're boarding 41.4 percent(!) of their own misses versus Philly.) They need Brunson to be more efficient, but news flash: No team is built for a Finals push without an optimal version of its best player, let alone its only star.

And in the meantime, as they wait on a trademark Brunson detonation, the Knicks are built to futz and fiddle and, most critically, win ugly if that's what it takes. They took Game 1 on Saturday despite shooting a putrid 35.7 percent inside the arc, making them the first team to bag a playoff victory while downing under 36 percent of their twos since the 2019 Toronto Raptors (who just so happened to win a championship).

By no means is New York's "Who's the biggest threat to Boston?" stock shaped by two games. This is an equity it has earned over the course of the entire season, again and again and again still.

And look, there's definitely a degree of "If not the Knicks, then who?" at play here. Because seriously, if not the Knicks, then who?

A Milwaukee Bucks team that has seldom hit its stride for more than a couple of weeks at a time and is without Giannis Antetokounmpo (left calf)? Eh.

Yes, the Miami Heat have alien tendencies in the postseason (see: 2020...and 2022...and 2023). But there's only so much extraterrestrial voodoo they can muster against the Celtics without Jimmy Butler (right MCL) and Terry Rozier (neck) and with an offense that, even at full strength, often appears to be working at a deficit.

If Game 1 is any indication, the Indiana Pacers are galaxies from ready unless Pascal Siakam's poise and play prove infectious. The Orlando Magic are approximately one caps-lock SHOOTER away from being one caps-lock SHOOTER away.

Ruling out the Sixers feels cruel. But can we really trust that Embiid's knee will hold up? If the answer is "yes," can we also trust that the non-Embiid minutes won't undermine their entire operation? Or that a 38-year-old Kyle Lowry emerging as their third most important player is sustainable?

For the moment, the Cleveland Cavaliers are the only viable alternative. And after jumping out to a 2-0 series lead over Orlando, their mettle against Boston should be tested in Round 2. But their offense can still gum up, and the swings this season from Darius Garland and Evan Mobley when they're healthy leave room for doubt.

Of course, the same can be said about the Knicks. There is a certain fragility to the way they play—the reliance on offensive rebounding, the Josh Hart workload, the one-star model of it all, the lack of bankable high-end shot creation beyond that one star, the state of Anunoby's elbow, the absence of Randle, the list can go on.

At what point, though, do we just accept the Knicks aren't existing on the margins, above their heads, but just a proven product of their depth and talent mix and connectivity?

New York is imperfect—incomplete and unfinished. Welcome to the Eastern Conference playoffs, where incomplete and unfinished are the prevailing circumstances outside the Celtics, who may very well breeze right on through to the NBA Finals. But they could also very well have to earn it by beating, by surviving, a Knicks team that, despite all its faults and foibles, continues to prove they are the most dangerous of the incomplete and unfinished.

Because if not these Knicks, then who?

Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.

Unless otherwise cited, stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference, Stathead or Cleaning the Glass. Salary information via Spotrac. Draft-pick obligations via RealGM.