Leslie Jones is an unashamed Knicks fan from Queens, just like moi. While there are plenty of obvious differences between us, I’d offer the three most significant are the fact that she actually can afford lower bowl seats at Madison Square Garden and that I didn’t infuriate just about everyone I know with her absolute butchering in her attempt to breathe new life into the classicly downscale appeal game show SUPERMARKET SWEEP. and her exceedingly over-the-top shrill in her referencing the title with the ear-splitting shriek that came out as something that sounded like “SWAAAAAAYYP!!!!!”. Oh, and the fact the New York Knicks team she adores has not won an NBA championship in her lifetime.
I’m seasoned enough where I actually remember the two they won in a glorious four-year span at the beginning of the 1970s. But that was more than a half-century ago, and they haven’t even made an NBA finals in the 21st century. I’d further contend that the asterisk that the shortened 1999 (the league didn’t even play games in calendar 1998 after the NBA finals) season and the utter disappointment of coming up a game short five years prior when Michael Jordan was in a de facto witness protection program muddy even those feats. So I’ll vehemently claim that the only thing harder to endure than watching her attempt to be an emcee has been watching the Knicks.
Which makes what happened this past weekend in Philadelphia has left us both incredulous and atypically hopeful. NBA.com’s John Schuhmann took a more measured and less parochial approach to the recap he dropped yesterday afternoon:
The New York Knicks sure know how to close out a playoff series. Ten days after finishing the first round with a 51-point win in Atlanta, the Knicks completed a sweep of the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals with what was, through three quarters, the most efficient offensive performance (regular season, SoFi Play-In Tournament or NBA Playoffs) of the last 30 years. Twelve minutes of garbage time erased that distinction, but the Knicks still won by 30 points. Their 144-114 victory on Sunday was their seventh double-digit victory of these playoffs.
And as if we needed it HEAVY.com’s Sai Mohan threw out a few more slabs of jerky for fans to gnaw on as they now get what might be a week or more of rest as a result of their sheer dominance:
History suggests that the New York Knicks will not only return to the NBA Finals for the first time in 26 years, but also end their 53-year title drought. That’s because the red-hot Knicks have achieved something this postseason that only three previous championship-winning teams — the 2025 Oklahoma City Thunder, 2008 Boston Celtics and 1987 Los Angeles Lakers — accomplished en route to the title. Per ESPN Insights…(t)he Knicks are the 4th team in NBA history with multiple 30-point series-clinching wins in a single postseason.
The Knicks similarly steamrolled the Atlanta Hawks, 140-89, in a series-clinching Game 6 in the first round. As such, they’ve closed out two consecutive series in style — both on the road — to continue their dominance in the playoffs.
Mike Brown’s team is on a seven-game winning streak since going down 2-1 to the Hawks in the first round. The remarkable turnaround has catapulted them to the status of overwhelming favorites to represent the East in the 2026 NBA Finals.
And as FOX NEWS’ Ryan Gaydos observed, they not only dominated the Sixers statistically but also emotionally:
Knicks guard Josh Hart got the last word after the team completed a sweep of the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the NBA Playoffs on Sunday night… Hart contributed with 17 points and nine rebounds. The Villanova alum had sharp words for the Philadelphia sports scene after the game. “I used to think Philly was a sports town, I don’t know if it is anymore,” Hart said. To add insult to injury, Knicks fans traveled to Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4 to watch their team topple the 76ers.
To be sure, all this notwithstanding, the Knicks are still only halfway home to answering fans’ prayers–particularly those who aren’t at least Baby Boomers. And they’re exactly where they were a year ago after they pulled off a series win against the hated Boston Celtics that offered as many miraculous comebacks as this one did routs. And since they got their road wins in the first two games of the series there were nowhere near as many Knicks fans in attendance then as there were this weekend. Awaiting them in the conference finals could be either a Detroit Pistons team that dominated them in the regular season–with home court advantage.
But the Pistons this morning have but a 2-1 advantage and a pivotal Game 4 on the docket tonight in Cleveland. A Cavs game win tonight would assure their series would extend long enough for the Knicks to get a full week of recovery–especially meaningful if your name is OG Anunoby. A Cavs series upset would produce a battle-scarred, inconsistent opponent that even the most pessimistic fans would allow would be even less daunting that the version of the Sixers that folded like origami in the wake of their own stirring conquest of the C’s. Plus home court advantage.
At least for now Knicks fans can actually be a bit brash and in one’s face. One can only hope they’ll be vociferous enough to drown out Leslie.
Courage…