Knicks set NBA playoff record with three straight 25-plus point wins

The Knicks aren’t just winning playoff games right now. They’re breaking the shape of them. Monday night’s 137-98 demolition of the 76ers gave New York something the league had literally never seen before — three straight playoff wins by at least 25 points. That run started with a 29-point Game 5 win over Atlanta, got ridiculous with a 51-point Game 6 closeout, and carried straight into the second round against Philadelphia. In a postseason where every possession is supposed to get tighter, the Knicks are turning games into noncompetitive blowouts. (espn.com) ### Why is this such a weird record? Because playoff basketball usually compresses. Rotations shrink, scouting gets obsessive, stars play heavier minutes, and even good teams tend to trade close wins instead of stacking giant margins. Three straight 25-plus wins means New York hasn’t just been better — it has been solving opponents early and then burying them before the game can settle into normal playoff tension. (espn.com) ### What happened against Philadelphia? Game 1 was over fast. Jalen Brunson scored 35, with 27 in the first half, and the Knicks hit the 76ers with a 74-51 halftime lead. New York shot 63% from the field, led by as many as 40, and got efficient support from everywhere — OG Anunoby had 18, while Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges added 17 each. That’s the part that should worry Ph(espn.com)g the team through. It was a full-system avalanche. (nba.com) ### Where did the streak really start? Back in the Atlanta series, when the Knicks were down 2-1. Since then they’ve won four straight playoff games by a combined 135 points. Two of those wins were the record-setting 25-plus blowouts, but the bigger story is the swing itself — New York went from looking vulnerable in the first round to looking like the team nobody wants to see. That ki(nba.com)math of a bracket. (espn.ph) ### Is this just hot shooting? Hot shooting is part of it, but not enough to explain margins like these. The Knicks are getting early control, defending well enough to keep opponents from answering, and spreading offense across multiple creators and finishers. Brunson is still the engine, but Towns, Bridges, and Anunoby make the floor much harder to load up against. When that many thre(espn.ph)and more like a numbers problem the other team can’t solve. (nba.com) ### Why does the margin matter more than the win? Because margins tell you something about repeatability. A two-point playoff win can come from one late shot or one weird whistle. A 39-point win usually means the better team controlled the game’s structure — pace, shot quality, matchups, bench minutes, all of it. One blowout can be random. Three straight says the Knicks are imposin(nba.com)does say this run is bigger than variance. (espn.com) ### What does Philadelphia need to fix first? The obvious thing is keeping Brunson out of rhythm early, but that’s not enough if New York keeps getting clean offense from the second and third options. Philly also has to stop the game from becoming a Knicks tempo game — once New York gets a cushion, it starts playing downhill and the pressure multiplies. Game 2 was much tighter, whi(espn.com) playoff territory. But after Game 1, the burden clearly shifted to them. (nba.com) ### So what’s the real takeaway? The Knicks haven’t won anything yet. But they’ve moved from “dangerous” to “historically overwhelming,” and that’s a different category. In the playoffs, everybody expects drama. Right now New York is removing it.