Knicks Reflect on Last Season’s TD Garden Heroics as They Embrace a New Era Under Mike Brown
BOSTON - The Knicks were back on the floor at TD Garden Tuesday morning, and while the shootaround was routine, the memories were anything but.
This was the scene of one of their most improbable playoff moments just months ago - a Game 1 comeback that still echoes through the halls of the Garden. Last season, the Knicks rolled into Boston for the Eastern Conference semifinals as underdogs and left as believers. But it wasn’t just the wins - it was how they got them.
Down 20 points. On the road.
Against the defending champs. With a crowd in full voice and Lucky the Leprechaun dancing like it was already over.
That’s when the Knicks showed what they were made of.
“You don’t plan to be down 20,” Karl-Anthony Towns said with a grin. “That was not our strategy. We did not big-brain that.”
Towns, always good for a quote, gave credit where it was due - to the team’s mental resolve. “I know Thibs [Tom Thibodeau] is a madman with an amazing IQ.
That was not one of the ideas,” he said. “But that Game 1 showed all the improvements we made - not just physically, but mentally.
Last year, we were such a mentally tough team. Nothing rattled us.”
That toughness was on full display again in Game 2, when the Knicks found themselves in the same hole - down 20 - and somehow climbed out again. Two games, two comebacks, two wins. And both sealed by Mikal Bridges, who turned defense into destiny with a pair of late-game steals that flipped the series.
“We just kept fighting until the horn went off,” Towns said. “And Mikal - he made those plays.
You don’t expect déjà vu, but there it was. Same situation, same result.
That says a lot about our mentality.”
Those moments didn’t save Thibodeau’s job - he was let go after the Knicks fell to Indiana in the conference finals - but they left a mark on a team that’s still largely intact. And now, under new head coach Mike Brown, those battle-tested lessons are being put to use in a new system, with new expectations.
“We play for the New York Knicks,” Towns said. “There’s adversity every day.”
That’s not just a soundbite - it’s a reality. The Knicks are in the middle of a transition.
Brown brings a different approach, and while the core remains, the system is evolving. Some of it is new, some of it feels familiar.
But the adjustment is real.
“Just understanding and adapting through a new system, a new coach,” said Bridges. “And for the guys, not listening to the noise.
I know fans - not all, but some - don’t realize how tough it is to adjust, especially after success. It’s different now.
It takes time. But we’re learning.”
And that learning curve is starting to show signs of progress. Tuesday’s game marked the 20th of the season, and while it’s still early, the Knicks are finding their footing.
Brown is learning his team. The team is learning Brown.
And together, they’re building something that blends what worked before with what could work better.
Tuesday also brought another meeting with the Celtics - though this Boston team looks much different than the one the Knicks stunned last spring. Jayson Tatum is still out with the Achilles injury he suffered in that series.
Kristaps Porzingis is in Atlanta, battling more health issues. Al Horford’s now in Golden State.
But the Celtics still carry weight - and memories.
“Man, they still got Coach [Joe] Mazzulla,” Bridges said. “And I think he’s a hell of a coach.
They’ve got guys who play hard, play smart, and bring a lot of talent. Yeah, they’ve got injuries, but it’s next man up.
They play physical. They do whatever it takes to win.”
The Knicks know that feeling. They lived it here last year.
And while this season is a new chapter with a new voice on the sideline, the echoes of that playoff run still matter. Those games weren’t just wins - they were turning points.
And the lessons learned in the fire are still driving this group forward.
Because in New York, the pressure never goes away. But if this team has proven anything, it’s that they don’t back down from it - they lean in.