{"id":711399,"date":"2026-04-15T23:51:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T23:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/711399\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T23:51:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T23:51:30","slug":"steve-popper-knicks-determined-to-fulfill-expectations-in-postseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/711399\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve Popper: Knicks determined to fulfill expectations in postseason"},"content":{"rendered":"

GREENBURGH \u2014\u00a0It\u2019s not like the last seven months for the Knicks, spanning Mike Brown\u2019s hiring<\/a> as head coach through camel rides in Abu Dhabi<\/a>, an NBA Cup victory in Las Vegas<\/a> and 82 games of ups and downs that logged 53 wins didn\u2019t mean anything.<\/p>\n

But really, it didn\u2019t mean anything.<\/p>\n

It was all a steppingstone to get here, to the postseason, where the judgment on this team that the Knicks have built will finally be told. If it wasn\u2019t clear the massive expectations placed on this group after falling in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season when the team fired the coach, Tom Thibodeau, who\u2019d led them that far, it was put on the record when Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan went on the radio in January and declared\u201c … Getting to the Finals we absolutely got to do. Winning the Finals, we should win.\u201d<\/p>\n

The path begins Saturday evening at the Garden when they host the Atlanta Hawks<\/a>, a team against whom they are a clear favorite. But they know, particularly from their own experience of upset wins and losses last year, the playoffs offer no guarantees.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great that we put ourselves in this position to be in the playoffs in this position,\u201d Karl-Anthony Towns said. \u201cAt the end of the day the season doesn\u2019t mean anything if we don\u2019t capitalize on this opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026This is the time. We\u2019ve got to go out there and we\u2019ve got to execute, capitalize again on this opportunity. At the end of the day we\u2019ll be judged by what we do in this run.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a heavy weight on any team\u2019s shoulders, but the Knicks, after piecing this roster together in recent years with experienced and accomplished veterans, have a path to reach the Finals as clear as they have had in the more than 50 years since the last championship run in New York.<\/p>\n

The front-running Pistons were a team they beat last season and have deficiencies:\u00a0shooting and playoff inexperience other than the first-round loss to the Knicks\u00a0a year ago. The Boston Celtics have shocked everyone outside of their locker room. They have done this\u00a0not just by finishing second in the East standings after losing Jayson Tatum to a torn Achilles in Game 4 of their series against the Knicks last season and shedding many of their veteran leaders in the offseason, but by getting Tatum back ahead of schedule. But they are not the defending champs they were a year ago.<\/p>\n

The Knicks have a roster as good as anyone in the East, depth they didn\u2019t possess a year ago and they are healthy. Every player practiced\u00a0Wednesday as the team began preparation.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, we want to win, which is very important for us, but I think our approach matters and how we attack that every day, attack that goal, is really important,\u201d Jalen Brunson said. \u201cSo I think, regardless, it’s important for us to just focus on one day at a time . . .\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoy that. Like I said, I enjoy the process every single day. Yes, it’s tough. Yes. There’s times, there’s ups and downs and self-doubt creeps in maybe sometimes, but I mean, this is something that I enjoy doing and it’s something I worked my entire life for. So I embrace the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Knicks beat Atlanta in two of the three meetings this season. And while the Hawks<\/a> are a different team than they were in the first half of the season,\u00a0finishing the season by winning 19 of their last 24 games,\u00a0on paper at least the Knicks are in a different class.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody in that locker room has a competitive spirit that I like and that I can say is unmatched,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI love the group and we\u2019re competing, not just for 53 wins. We\u2019re competing at the end of the day, like everybody else is, to win it.<\/p>\n

“For us, we\u2019re concentrating on practice tomorrow, getting ready for Atlanta. But our competitive spirit is there. It\u2019s not anything we take lightly.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not something Brown or the Knicks can do, taking Atlanta or any step along this path lightly. The season has gone on for a long time, but this time, maybe more than any in other season for this group, is when the pressure lands on them like an anvil.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m confident,\u201d Towns said. \u201cI step into every playoff run confident in our team, because at the end of the day we\u2019re the ones that are going to need to get the job done and also, we\u2019re all we need. I know everyone in that locker room believes that we have everything we need in that locker room to give ourselves a chance and we\u2019ve just got to continue to go out there and play at a high level.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day we\u2019ve had to prove ourselves. I think it\u2019s going to be cool to go out here and compete at the highest level possible, the NBA playoffs. It\u2019s great competition. It\u2019s going to be against a great team first round. We\u2019ve got to take care of business.”<\/p>\n

KNICKS VS. HAWKS SCHEDULE<\/p>\n

Game 1: Atlanta at New York, Saturday April 18 (6 ET, Prime Video)<\/p>\n

Game 2: Atlanta at New York,\u00a0Monday April 20 (8 ET, NBC)<\/p>\n

Game 3: New York at Atlanta,\u00a0Thursday April 23 (7 ET, Prime Video)<\/p>\n

Game 4: New York at Atlanta,\u00a0Saturday April 25 (6 ET, NBC)<\/p>\n

Game 5: Atlanta at New York,\u00a0Tuesday April 28*<\/p>\n

Game 6: New York at Atlanta,\u00a0Thursday April 30*<\/p>\n

Game 7: Atlanta at New York,\u00a0Saturday May 2*<\/p>\n

* if necessary<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/p>\n

\n\tSteve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GREENBURGH \u2014\u00a0It\u2019s not like the last seven months for the Knicks, spanning Mike Brown\u2019s hiring as head coach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":711400,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3776],"tags":[676,208,3874,7,677,6,191],"class_list":{"0":"post-711399","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-hawks","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-hawks","10":"tag-atlantahawks","11":"tag-basketball","12":"tag-hawks","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-new-york-knicks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116411413109646376","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/711400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}