New York Knicks
The 2024-25 New York Knicks can be defined as the best Knicks season in 25 years — and then firing the head coach.
What did we learn?
For the first time since 2000, the Knicks made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.
It had been a quarter century.
But that’s where they fell short and the magical season ended. At the hands of the Indiana Pacers, who just had more magic going for them.
Less than a week later, Thibs was let go.
It was admitting they didn’t feel Thibs gave them the best chance to win a Championship given his constant and seemingly unwavering style. We can’t help but agree with that notion considering all of the substantial evidence we have that backs it up.
Plain and simple, Thibs runs his guys and teams into the ground. But he also maximizes a team’s floor and put the Knicks in position to compete on a nightly basis. Thibs was a massive part of the Knicks recent glow up. There is no denying that.
The Knicks regular season was a wild ride.
Some teams thrive on chaos, playing their best when it feels like they are walking on a bridge of ice with an abyss on either side. That was this Knicks team through and through.
If it seemed like the Knicks were always involved in this season’s craziest games, it’s because they were. The ones with frenzied endings and colossal roundhouse kicking swings of emotion.
Jalen Brunson remained the King of New York and further cemented himself as a walking living legend, earning his stripes as Captain Clutch and being rightfully named the NBA’s 2024-25 Clutch Player of the Year.
With the game on the line, Brunson delivered time and time again. It wasn’t just that Brunson hit the game’s biggest shots, which he most certainly did. But it was the way that Brunson showed up and constantly carried the Knicks on offense when they needed him most.
If you were there for it, you know just how heroic and legendary it really was.
Karl-Anthony Towns had his own variety of insane games. People might not realize that KAT had five games of 40+ points and 22 games of scoring at least 30 points. But he would also go through plenty of stretches where you wondered: “Where is KAT? Why doesn’t he want it tonight?”
Josh Hart, the ultimate Thibs guy, proved again his forever willingness to sacrifice his entire body on a nightly basis. Hart played 77 games and averaged 37.6 minutes a game.
Mikal Bridges remained an NBA Iron Man (he’s still never missed a game) and Thibs played him 37.0 minutes a night as well. Bridges had his own share of clutch plays this season.
And OG Anunoby? 74 games and 36.6 minutes a night. These were the Knicks defensive anchors and innings eaters who always showed up and played the Thibs Knicks way: hard-nosed and gallantly.
The Knicks Five of Brunson, Hart, Bridges, Anunoby and KAT played 940 regular season minutes together, 226 more minutes than the next most used 5-man lineup.
The Knicks finished the regular season with a record of 51-31. It was one more win than last season, but it was the first time the Knicks had won 50+ games in back-to-back seasons in 30 years, since the mid-90’s Knicks coached by Pat Riley.
The first round series vs. Detroit was more madness. Close games filled with big comebacks, razor sharp margins, blown calls and ultimate tests of perseverance.
The Knicks did prevail in 6 games, but the Pistons took two in MSG and there was that egregious blown call in Game 4.
Either way, the Knicks made it to Boston.
And they pulled off two improbable comebacks in Boston. Games so intense and down to the wire that the Knicks had to shout out Detroit from where they were battle tested and ready, knowing the depths from which a team can sink to the brink but still find a way to rise up out of nowhere.
It was Knicks in 6 again, but then it was another playoff meeting with the Indiana Pacers.
Haliburton hit that shot in Game 1 and the Knicks fumbled away Game 2.
Going down 2-0, there was just no margin for error. Something this Knicks team couldn’t afford.
It was a traumatic series. Every game was difficult for the Knicks, having no easy games or easy wins in the playoffs added up and took its toll.
The Pacers had another gear that the Knicks just didn’t have.
The Pacers were just too pesky and the Knicks ran out of gas.
Hopefully the next coach leaves some in the tank — but he’ll have to get them back there first.
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Additional Notes
Mitchell Robinson was injured and out for the vast majority of the season, but he made his debut at the end of February in time to get ready for the playoffs. Robinson didn’t always play the most minutes off the bench, but he provided reliable size, rebounding and rim protection where the Knicks needed him.
Deuce McBride deserves credit for being a bellwether player here. When McBride scored at least 10 points, the Knicks went 22-8.
Who appeared in the fifth most games for the Knicks this season? That would be one Cameron Payne with 72 games played.
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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?
This number feels a tad too high with the NY tax. Under 53.5 wins.
Knicks 2024-25 record: (51-32)
Another one that we nailed!
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What’s Next?
Mike Brown is officially in as the next Knicks head coach. We love Mike Brown, but will he be enough of a hard ass for this group that’s so used to Thibs? On the contrary, he could be a breath of the freshest air.
Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele have arrived to the Big Apple from free agency. Clarkson and Yabusele provide added depth off the bench in the exact areas that the Knicks need them.
Expectations are everything. And in the JV East with this roster, expectations in New York have never been higher.
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Favorite Knicks Highlight of the 2024-25 Season:
So. Much. Pandemonium.
