Knicks Reflect on Last Spring’s Stunning Upset of the Celtics - and What’s Next in a New Era
BOSTON - Karl-Anthony Towns didn’t need to dig too deep to recall how it felt to knock off the defending champs last spring. Asked about the Knicks’ shocking second-round series win over the Celtics, he kept it simple: “Being tired,” he said with a grin.
But what stuck with Towns wasn’t just the exhaustion - it was the resilience.
“It was fun to see our team through all the adversity and everything being said about us and the series,” Towns said. “We didn’t always start strong, but we found a way to finish. That whole group was special when we needed to be.”
That series win over Boston wasn’t just a playoff upset - it was a seismic shift. The Celtics, fresh off a title, were stunned on their home floor and never quite recovered.
The loss triggered a cascade of changes in Boston: key players were traded or walked, and the team’s once-stable core was dismantled. When the Celtics returned to Madison Square Garden earlier this season - the site of their Game 6 blowout loss - they were handed the worst defeat in franchise history, including a jaw-dropping 42-14 second quarter.
At that moment, the Knicks looked like the new standard in the East. The Celtics, meanwhile, were reeling - including a rough 0-3 start in Detroit.
But momentum is a fickle thing in the NBA. While New York’s players saw last year’s run as a testament to their toughness, the Pacers quickly brought them back to earth.
Indiana stole Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals in a thriller and went on to close out the series in six. The Knicks’ breakthrough season ended short of the Finals, and the front office responded by parting ways with Tom Thibodeau.
In came Mike Brown, bringing a new system and a different voice, while the roster saw only minor tweaks.
Now, the Knicks are trying to build on last year’s progress - but it’s a work in progress. They came into Tuesday night’s game in Boston riding a four-game win streak after a 9-6 start, still chasing a surging Detroit team and trying to find consistency in a crowded Eastern Conference.
“New system, new coach,” Mikal Bridges said. “I know some fans get it - not all - but learning a new system, especially after success, it’s tough.
It’s different. It takes time.
We’re growing, we’re not worrying about outside noise. We’re in here every day, putting the work in.
It’s about growth.”
That growth started with one of the gutsiest playoff performances this franchise has seen in years. Last spring, the Celtics had owned the Knicks during the regular season - three double-digit wins and an overtime escape in the finale. In Game 1 of the playoffs, Boston jumped out to a 16-point halftime lead, but Kristaps Porziņģis didn’t return after the break, beginning his battle with POTS - a condition that’s still affecting him this season in Atlanta.
New York seized the opening. Bridges came up with a last-second steal in overtime to steal Game 1.
Then he did it again in Game 2, capping off a 20-point second-half rally with another clutch defensive play. All 14 of his points came in the fourth quarter - a signature moment that helped cement his place with the Knicks after a rocky start to his tenure.
“Good memories and bad,” Bridges said, reflecting on the series. “They kicked our ass in the opener last season.
But we bounced back. Whole new year now.”
Boston responded in Game 3, but Game 4 delivered another gut punch - a double-digit collapse that ended with Jayson Tatum tearing his Achilles. The injury sidelined Tatum for most, if not all, of this season and contributed to Al Horford’s exit from the team.
That moment didn’t just end the Celtics’ title defense - it reshaped their future. Boston shed salary, dodged the second luxury tax apron, and entered a soft reset.
They’ve hovered around .500 since.
Still, Bridges isn’t counting them out.
He credited Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla for instilling a mental edge in his group. Even in a blowout loss at MSG earlier this season, Boston clawed back to within single digits after trailing by 24.
Since then, they’ve won 11 of their last 18 and sit just 2.5 games behind the Knicks in the standings. In a conference where Indiana and others are dealing with injuries or retooling, the door is wide open.
New York has a real shot at reaching the Finals for the first time since 1999 - if they can keep growing.
And for Towns, last year’s Celtics series remains a blueprint for what this team can be when it’s locked in - mentally and physically.
“That wasn’t some master plan,” Towns said, laughing about the comebacks. “Game 1 showed how much we’d grown - not just physically, but mentally.
We were so locked in last year. A 20-point hole, on the road, against the champs?
Didn’t faze us. We kept fighting.
And when that final horn went off, we had the win. Mikal made a huge play.
Then Game 2? Same thing.
Deja vu. It just showed our mental fortitude.”
That toughness might be the Knicks’ greatest weapon this season. Because if they can channel that same edge under a new coach, with a new system, and in a deeper East - they just might take that next step.