Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks aren’t celebrating yet—but try telling that to the roaring crowds inside and outside Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000 with a commanding 119–81 win over the defending champion Boston Celtics in Game 6 on Friday night, ending Boston’s title defense with a blowout that electrified New York.
Brunson and OG Anunoby each poured in 23 points, while Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges added firepower on both ends. On their way to the postgame press conference, Hart showed Bridges a video of a fan scaling a light pole outside the Garden. “I’m new here,” Bridges said with a grin, “but I already know how much New York loves the Knicks. We’re not done yet.”
The victory sends the Knicks into a showdown with the Indiana Pacers, their opponent in the 2000 conference finals. Game 1 tips off Wednesday night in New York.
“This is a great win,” said Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau. “We advance, but now it’s about preparing for the Pacers. They’re a terrific team.”
The Garden crowd erupted long before the final buzzer, with the celebration building in a first half that saw New York surge to a 64–37 lead—matching the franchise’s largest halftime margin in a playoff game in the shot-clock era. The 38-point final margin was also the largest postseason win in Knicks history.
Mikal Bridges scored 22 points and Karl-Anthony Towns chipped in 21, helping the Knicks dominate a Celtics squad missing star forward Jayson Tatum, who was sidelined with a torn Achilles suffered in Game 4.
Celtics guard Jaylen Brown scored 20 points, but Boston’s hopes of forcing a Game 7 quickly unraveled. Knicks guard Deuce McBride’s chasedown block of Derrick White early in the second quarter capped a 13–3 run, sparking a sequence that sent the Garden crowd into a frenzy.
Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla began pulling his starters in the third quarter as the Knicks’ lead ballooned past 40 points.
“We just weren’t the same team this year,” said White. “We had our goals, and we fell short.”
Celebrities like Ben Stiller and Lenny Kravitz were on hand, celebrating courtside as the Knicks delivered a performance that will be remembered in franchise history. The team’s last playoff series win at home came in the 1999 East finals.
Now, with the ghosts of past playoff heartbreaks behind them, the Knicks are four wins away from their first NBA Finals appearance in over two decades.
