Knicks face off with rival Celtics in opening round of the playoffs

The New York Knicks are in the playoffs. Man it feels good to say that. The Knicks have missed out on postseason play since 2004, when they got swept by the New Jersey Nets in 4 games. The last time they actually won a playoff game was 10 years ago in 2001 when they defeated the Toronto Raptors.

The Knicks who are the 6th seed, will face off with the Boston Celtics, who finished 3rd in the Eastern Conference.  The Celtics have dominated the Knicks in recent years after the acquisitions of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen In 2007. The Celtics have been a force since revamping their roster, winning a championship in 2008, and they have consistently been at the top of the East in the past couple of seasons. The Knicks have played them tough during the season series, and with the roll that they have been on recently, have some confidence entering the playoff series.

The Celtics on the other hand have been playing poorly in recent weeks. They traded away their big man Kendrick Perkins for Jeff Green at the trade deadline, and haven’t been the same team since. If there was ever a good time to catch the Celtics, it would have to be right now. A lot of people were saying that the Miami Heat would be a less daunting opponent than then the Celtics, but I tend to disagree. Don’t get me wrong, these are two great teams that I am talking about, and Paul Pierce is a Knicks killer, but I much rather play the aging, struggling Celtics, than the young, athletic, and thriving Miami Heat.  Hopefully we have the opportunity to play the Heat later in the playoffs.

The Knicks and Coach Mike D’Antoni have transformed their style of play since the early struggles following the blockbuster trade, which brought in Carmelo Anthony. They have become more of a traditional offense, using the fast break when it is available, but really pulling back and setting up the offense. This better suits the team as presently constituted, as Melo and Stoudemire like to have the ball in their hands and create their own shot. Melo is especially good at this. It took some time to figure out, but the new style has the Knicks playing as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference in the recent weeks, and Anthony received back-to-back Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors during the stretch.  Also since the change in styles, the Knicks have suddenly started to play some defense. I wouldn’t call them a shut down defense by any means, but the way Carmelo and others have hustled and played determined defense when it matters most, you can see they want to win. We can only hope that this will continue in the playoffs, as they are going to need to get big stops at the end of games to be able to compete with the defensive minded Celtics.

The New York-Boston rivalry will be renewed on Sunday night, and it should make for a gritty and physical series. Don't count the Knicks out, who now have three legitimate big shot makers in Melo, Stat, and Billups to go to at the end of the game. Most of the games should be close, and it will come down to who can make a couple of stops, and who can make the big shot at the end. The Celtics have proven in the past that they are capable of this, and it's the Knicks turn to show what they are made of.