A longtime Atlantic Division rival stands in the Knicks’ way back to the Eastern Conference finals.
He’s just not the competitor everyone expected him to be.
There will be no rematch with the Celtics after all.
Instead, it will be the suddenly red-hot 76ers and the Knicks in the second round, which begins Monday night at the Garden.
Philadelphia, the seventh seed, ended the meeting from the bottom 3-1 on Saturday night, beating the Jayson Tatum-less Celtics at TD Garden.
This is not the same 76ers that went 45-37 in the regular season.
They are finally healthy.
Center Joel Embiid is back after missing the first three games of the playoffs following emergency appendicitis surgery that sidelined him for the rest of the regular season.
He was good in the series against the second-place Celtics, scoring 28 points and nine rebounds in four contests, although he appeared to injure his left knee in the final seconds of Game 7.
The big three of Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey only appeared in 15 regular season games together.
But they looked terrible against Boston.
Maxey, in particular, was brilliant.
He dominated Game 7 on the floor and finished with 30 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
There is recent postseason history between the two teams.
They met in a thrilling first-round series two years ago, losing to the Knicks in six games.
Five of those contests were decided by single digits.
It included what the Knicks called a “dirty” play by Embiid, in which he fouled Mitchell Robinson by grabbing his leg while flying.
It led to an ankle injury for the Knicks’ center, and ultimately ended his first season.
The Knicks began preparations on Saturday for their next opponent, although they did not know at the time that it would be Embiid and Co.
The Celtics and 76ers were hours away from meeting in Boston in a winner-takes-all Game 7.
Not that it mattered much to Mike Brown.
“It’s about us, and many times it’s about us even if we know who we’re playing,” said the Knicks coach. “There’s a lot you can work on without knowing who you’re up against because you’re trying to be better or sharper in the areas that make you who you are.”
The Knicks will enter the next round as a confident team, after eliminating the Hawks in six games.
That’s not to say the series was easy, with the Browns trailing 2-1 at one point.
They responded like champions, winning the last three games by 96 points.
They demolished the Hawks in the tournament, winning with a team record 51 points.
The momentum changed in an instant.
When asked if the Knicks played at a championship level in those last three games, Jalen Brunson said they did at a level capable of getting out of the first round.
The Knicks’ response was impressive, especially given how much the other top seeds in the Eastern Conference — the top-seeded Pistons and the second-seeded Celtics — have struggled.
Detroit needed a big comeback Friday night from a 22-point halftime deficit against the Magic just to force a Game 7 on Sunday.
Celtic didn’t even get out of the first round.
On the other hand, the Knicks are enjoying an off weekend.
There are many chances that once the first round is completed, they will be the ones who will win the conference.
“I haven’t really thought about it. It’s one of those things you can’t worry about,” Brunson said. “You have to control what you can’t control. Focus on one day at a time and focus on the task at hand.”
It has now been four consecutive seasons that the Knicks have advanced to the first round of the playoffs, the first time since 1992-2000.
The series win over the Hawks was different.
For one, Brown, not Thibodeau, was the coach.
Also, the Knicks came out on top in a series deficit, which was last done in the 2000 postseason.
It led Brown to compare this team with some of the top teams he was a part of that reached the NBA Finals, such as the Spurs, Warriors and Cavaliers.
“First of all, they know how to be strong because in the playoffs, you hit the best, which means you will face difficulties, if [that happens]can you stay connected? And this group can,” said Brown. “So the communication that this group has is the same. The sacrifice of this team is the same, the spirit of competition that this team has is the same and the belief is the same.”
