The second round series for the Boston Celtics has now been fully set.
The defending champions will face the New York Knicks, a familiar division foe, with Game 1 scheduled for Monday, May 5th. The Knicks came back to steal Game 6 of their first round series with the Detroit Pistons, a back-and-forth tightly-contested war that ended with some Jalen Brunson heroics to seal the victory.
The Knicks were the third-best team in the Eastern Conference for most of the season, so this was always the most likely outcome. At times, however, it certainly looked like the Detroit Pistons had their number and would find a way to come back and take the series. The Knicks hobbled through multiple injuries and controversial endings to secure a 4-2 series win.
Game 1 of the series will start on May 5th. The timing is still up-in-the-air, as the way that the final two Western Conference series close out will dictate whether the Celtics and Knicks share a night of basketball or have it all to themselves. If the Golden State Warriors close out their platyoff series against the Houston Rockets on Friday night, the NBA has said that the Oklahoma City Thunder will begin their second round series on Monday, against the winner of the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder. If Warriors - Rockets goes to seven games, the Thunder will get pushed back a night.
From there, the Celtics and Knicks will play in Boston on both Monday and Wednesday, but then get an extra day to travel...all the way to New York City. Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday, then Games 4-6 will occur every other day on the following Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Finally, if a Game 7 is necessary, it will take place on Monday, May 19th.
The Knicks are a familiar playoff foe
The Celtics and Knicks played four times this season as Atlantic Division foes. As has been trumpeted often, especially by Knicks fans reliving five decades of trauma, the Knicks went 0-8 this season against the top two teams in the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics.
That included an Opening Night evisceration at the hands of the Celtics and their 3-point shooting. The Celtics shouldn't get too complacent, however, as the final matchup between the teams was a tightly-contested affair, and Boston only won by two points.
The Celtics are enjoying nearly a week off between series, as they are nursing a plethora of injuries. Jayson Tatum came back from a serious wrist injury and was sensational against the Orlando Magic, but having time off will only help him. Jrue Holiday's status is up in the air as he nurses a hamstring injury. Jaylen Brown is managing a bad knee. Kristaps Porzingis was given the Harry Potter scar by a Goga Bitadze flying elbow and is always one movement away from an injury.
Boston is the superior team to the Knickerbockers and have proven that they match up well against them. Do Tom Thibodeau and company have any surprises up their sleeves? They will have a handful of days to prepare them.
The Celtics hope to move quickly through this second series as well, because their true goal is another NBA championship, and the Cleveland Cavaliers looked phenomenal in their four-game sweep of the Miami Heat. Stumbling against the Knicks could prolong the series, and that is an outcome that the Celtics want to avoid.
The next step in that journey comes on Monday night.
