Knicks clinch Eastern Conference finals berth after series-clinching victory

The Knicks didn’t just close out Philadelphia. They detonated the series. New York beat the 76ers 144-114 on Sunday, May 10, finishing a 4-0 sweep and booking a second straight trip to the Eastern Conference finals. The score matters, but the shape of it matters more — this was another Knicks playoff game that was basically over long before the final buzzer. ### How did they clinch it? With an avalanche of 3s. New York tied the NBA postseason record with 25 made threes in Game 4, and the game broke open almost immediately. The Knicks hit 11 in the first quarter alone, then piled up 18 by halftime. When a road team shoots like that, the crowd usually goes quiet. In Philadelphia, the twist was that plenty of the noise was coming from Knicks fans anyway. (nba.com) ### Who swung the game? Miles McBride was the surprise headline. He started because OG Anunoby was out with a hamstring issue, then drilled seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points. Jalen Brunson added 22, while Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 17 apiece. That balance is what made this feel so brutal for Philadelphia — the Knicks didn’t need one superhero night. They had shot creation, spacing, transition pressure, and enough secondary scoring that every Sixers mistake got punished. (nba.com) ### Was the whole series this one-sided? Pretty much, yes. The Knicks won Game 1 by 39, took Game 2 by 6 in the tightest game of the series, won Game 3 by 14, then closed with a 30-point blowout. Across the four games, New York averaged 124.3 points to Philadelphia’s 102.0. Jalen Brunson led the series at 29.0 points per game, and the Knicks averaged 29.3 assists — a sign that this wasn’t just hot shooting, but a team repeatedly generating clean looks. (nba.com) ### Why does that matter beyond one round? Because this is no longer a cute run. New York has now won seven straight playoff games, counting the end of the first-round series against Atlanta, and the margins have been absurd. The AP recap notes the Knicks’ 19.4-point average margin of victory through two rounds is the biggest for any team this deep in the playoffs since the NBA went to a 16-team format in 1984. That’s not just “advancing.” That’s flattening the bracket. (nba.com) ### What changed from last year? The Knicks were already good enough to reach the conference finals last season. Then they made a coaching change, moving on from Tom Thibodeau and hiring Mike Brown. Brown now has them back in the East finals in his first season, and the team looks a little more explosive without losing the defensive edge that made last year’s group dangerous. Turns out the big story here is not just continuity — it’s escalation. (nba.com) ### Who do they get next? Not a Western team yet — the next stop is the Eastern Conference finals, and New York will face the winner of Cavaliers-Pistons. As of Sunday, Detroit led that series 2-1. So the Knicks are the first East team through, and now they get the luxury every contender wants in May: rest, scouting time, and a chance to watch the other side take more hits. ### What’s the bottom line? (nba.com) The Knicks didn’t sneak through. They arrived like a team that thinks the conference is there for the taking. A sweep is one thing. A sweep built on record-tying shooting, huge margins, and a plug-in starter dropping 25 is something else. New York looks less like a survivor now — and more like a real Finals threat. (nba.com)