Rested Knicks Ready for Return to Conference Finals, Await Winner of Pistons–Cavaliers Game 7

The New York Knicks are rested and ready for the NBA Eastern Conference finals.

Who they play depends on the winner of Sunday’s Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in Detroit. The host Pistons, No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, and the No. 4 seed Cleveland Cavaliers battle to win the game’s 48 minutes of regulation time at Little Caesars Arena. The Pistons’ 115–94 victory over the Cavaliers on Friday at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, in Game 6, forced one final game between the two teams in the playoffs. Jump ball is at 8 p.m. ET.

The Knicks, who are coming off a four-game sweep of the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, haven’t played a game since Mother’s Day, May 10. Prior to the semifinals action, New York sent the Atlanta Hawks packing for the summer by taking that series in six games.

The Knicks dominated game four against the 76ers from the opening period. The 144–114 final score included 25 3-pointers hit by New York, equaling the most in any NBA playoff game, and 11 of the 3-pointers that connected came in the first quarter. Knicks coach Mike Brown commented in the New York Post on his team’s long-range shooting accuracy after Sunday’s series-clincher.

“Twenty-five 3s on 44 attempts is unbelievable,” Brown said. “That’s great basketball. But with the group that I have in that locker room, they’re more than capable of doing something like that.”

With the Knicks back in the Eastern Conference finals for a second straight season (New York lost to the Indiana Pacers in six games in 2025), Brown’s coaching talents are proving to be every bit as important as the top seven players he utilizes in his lineup. Now in his 12th NBA season as a head coach, including six with Cleveland, Brown kept the Knicks on the same winning roll they were on last season, which they finished with a 53–29 record. Brown’s players bought into his strategies from the start of training camp in late September.

There’s no reason for New York not to remain as confident in the upcoming series as they have shown with Atlanta and Philadelphia.

“It’s just us being very locked into the moment,” said Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns after Sunday’s Game 4 with the 76ers to ESPN.com.

Towns continues to publicly praise the job Brown did to prepare the 18 players who wore a Knicks jersey during the regular season and into the playoffs.

“He did a great job of adjusting our team to give us the best chance to win,” Towns told The Canadian Press on Friday. “The spot we’re in now is because of his courage and the trust to change what we were doing and put us in a better position.”

During the NBA’s 2025–2026 schedule, both potential opponents for New York in the Eastern Conference finals proved frustrating to deal with. The Pistons ran up a perfect 3–0 record over the Knicks, including their last meeting in New York’s Madison Square Garden on Feb. 19, which ended in a 126–111 win by Detroit. New York fared better against the Cavaliers, but certainly wasn’t the clear-cut better team.  The Knicks were 2–1 in their games with Cleveland; however, they came out on the losing end of a 109–94 effort at Rocket Arena on Feb. 24.

The Knicks’ playoff appearance in 2025–2026 is their 47th in the franchise’s 80 seasons.

New York has been getting contributions all season long equally from the starters and bench players. Backup center Mitchell Robinson is one of those role players Brown has been getting the most from during the regular season through the recent series with Philadelphia. And his contributions haven’t gone unnoticed by his teammates.

“[Robinson’s] one of the most impactful players on our team,” Karl-Anthony Towns said Friday afternoon to The New York Post. “I think all of y’all know how important he is to us.”

The Knicks’ shooting has been overwhelming challengers in the playoffs, led by Jalen Brunson, Jost Hart, Miles McBride, and Towns. As a team, the roster has outscored its opponents by 194 points in 10 games.

The surging Knicks hope to have forward OG Anunoby available to play in game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Anunoby practiced on Friday at the Knicks’ facility in Tarrytown, New York. In game 2 against the 76ers, Anunoby suffered a right hamstring strain. He sat out Games 3 and 4 of the semifinals series.

New York hasn’t celebrated an NBA championship since the spring of 1973. Four Super Bowls, eight World Series, and five Stanley Cup championships were won by New York teams since the Knicks last won an NBA title.

The Knicks squad 53 seasons back that defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in five games produced nine future members (players and coaches) of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

If Detroit wins on Sunday, Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals will be on Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena. A Cleveland win, and Game 1 will take place at Madison Square Garden.