u/sillyshoestring

Not saying we're guaranteed to repeat or reach anywhere near the success of last year, but it's the offseason and I like dreaming stuff like this up. For me it would be:

Round 1: Heat - Still bitter rivals to us in my eyes, and I would love to 1) get revenge for the series loss in 2023 and 2) throw cold water on the Giannis era in Miami and Reilly's last hurrah.

Round 2: Pistons - I don't have a particular beef with the Pistons in general, but with how they swept us in the regular season this past year and their fans were convinced we were going to be their food in the ECF that they didn't even make, I would love for the Knicks to keep them in the purgatory of not being able to get out of the second round.

ECF: Pacers - I was considering at first having the Pacers in the first round and squashing their hopes early, but I decided it would be better for the Knicks to finally beat them on the biggest stage possible. This would be the most vindicating for our squad who had to see their playoffs end to the Pacers in back to back years.

Finals: This was the toughest one for me. Repeating against the Spurs and marring Wemby's early legacy would be awesome. I also considered the Rockets for revenge for our other Finals loss in the 90's. And beating OKC would show that the Knicks could beat the best of the best, including both western conference powerhouses. But I'm gonna go a little bit left field here and pick the Lakers. Lakers-Knicks would be one of if not the most electric Finals matchup in modern times with the two biggest markets going head-to-head. Not to mention, the headlines between old friends and teammates Luka and Brunson. It would have a feeling of an instant classic with more eyes on the NBA than ever before.

Obviously a lot can change in the course of a season, but looking ahead from here, this would be epic.