One of the most anticipated potential matchups of the playoffs is finally upon us, the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks will officially face off in the second round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs. With Boston having some time to rest after sending the Orlando Magic home in five games, they are entering the series as heavy favorites.
The Knicks have a strong offense though and could just as easily win the series. The Celtics are still the better team on paper, but the Knicks are notorious for thriving as the underdogs. Let’s take a closer look at what could determine the outcome of this unique series.
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The Headline
Both teams in this matchup are fueled in part by a dynamic duo. The Celtics have Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who are both elite two-way wings with championship experience and long-time chemistry. The Knicks have Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, a newfound duo that can terrorize defenses with one of the league’s most versatile pick-and-roll actions.
How these duos defend each other will be the most important factor to watch in this series. Tatum and Brown are the better individual defenders, but the Brunson-KAT offensive combination has the potential to be unstoppable if the C’s duo is caught up in that pick-and-roll.
KAT and Brunson likely won’t be their primary defenders, but they will be targeted on defense if they switch. Boston’s offense dominated the Knicks in all four regular season matchups, but the playoffs is where checkers becomes chess.
The Matchup
This series is littered with exciting individual matchups, but none could be more impactful than the one between Jayson Tatum and OG Anunoby.
Tatum averaged a blistering 33.5 points on 53.5% shooting against the Knicks this season and if he puts up numbers even close to that in this series, the Knicks will not move on to the next round. Anunoby is New York’s best point-of-attack defender and is most equipped to defend Tatum.
Boston will likely try to force KAT into the matchup with a switch, putting the defensive responsibility in Towns’ hands.
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The X-Factor
The X-factor in this series will be the Knicks’ pace on offense. As the shortest team in the league, New York should avoid tough mismatches and run out on the fastbreak for easy buckets.
They must get more stops on defense while working hard on the rebounds if they want to play at a high pace, but Boston’s top-three rated offense will make that easier said than done.
As one of the league’s worst rebounding teams, the Knicks will need to be aggressive and crash the glass or risk giving the Celtics multiple opportunities to score.
Without maximum effort and coordination, the Knicks may lose this series rather quickly, but we’ve seen far crazier things than the third seed upsetting the second seed.
James Parker is an NBA writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
