New York Knicks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Towns, Knicks, Holiday, Porzingis, Sixers

May 19th, 2025 at 8:12pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Karl-Anthony Towns gave the Pacers fits this season and the Knicks hope that continues over the next two weeks. He averaged 30.3 points, 12.0 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 46.7 percent from three-point range in 36.5 minutes per contest vs. Indiana, Zach Braziller of the New York Post notes, with the Knicks winning two of three regular-season matchups between the Eastern Conference finalists.

Towns will likely be matched up against Myles Turner, who averaged 19.5 points and 2.5 blocks per game against New York this season.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

The Knicks have been named the 2024-25 NBATA Athletic Training Staff of the Year, Mike Curtis of the Dallas Morning News tweets. New York’s training staff is led by Casey Smith, VP of Sports Medicine. The staff also includes senior athletic trainer Heather Mau. Smith and Mau are former members of the Mavs’ training staff, Curtis notes. Smith was fired in 2023 by Dallas GM Nico Harrison.
All the extensions that the Celtics handed out last offseason could prove detrimental unless the front office can find a good trade offer for Jrue Holiday or Kristaps Porzingis, Brian Robb of MassLive.com opines. Holiday still has value but his production tailed off this season and he’s owed $104MM over the next three years. Porzingis has an expiring contract but has contributed little in the last two postseason due to injury and illness. A more dramatic reset for the franchise could be required if shedding these big-money contracts ends up costing Boston valuable assets, Robb concludes.
While there has been some speculation that the Sixers will shop the No. 3 overall pick, Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports hears an entirely different story. A source told him that the front office isn’t interested in packaging that pick to acquire a veteran star (Twitter link). The team has spoken publicly about wanting to add more youth and athleticism to its core, Neubeck notes, and the No. 3 pick will provide an opportunity to do just that.

Knicks Notes: Bridges, Pacers Storylines, Key Moments, Hart

May 18th, 2025 at 7:08pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mikal Bridges, acquired in a blockbuster deal with the Nets in the offseason, played a huge role in the Knicks’ second-round series triumph over the Celtics. He averaged 14.7 points per game, including 34 total points in fourth quarters, Jared Schwartz of the New York Post notes.

He also made enormous defensive stops, stealing the ball away from Jaylen Brown to end Game 1 and intercepting a Jayson Tatum pass to end Game 2. Bridges is thirsting for more as the Knicks enter the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pacers.

“There’s more to go,” Bridges said. “We’re not done. That’s what it is. We came out there [Friday night] to play hard and handle business, but our season’s not over. We’ve got so much more to go and we play on Wednesday, so get ready to prepare for them. Whole different team and a whole new series.”

We have more on the Knicks:

They, of course, will be looking to avenge last season’s second-round series loss to the Pacers, in which they blew a 2-0 lead. However, the Knicks were riddled with injuries by that point. In contrast, New York has all its pieces entering this series, Schwartz points out. Pace and three-point shooting will also be key components to the series, he adds.
How did the Knicks turn into a contender? Post columnist Mike Vaccaro takes a closer look at how they were built, starting with the hires of Leon Rose as president of basketball operations and Tom Thibodeau as head coach. From a roster standpoint, the team’s zeal to sign Jalen Brunson in free agency in 2022 proved to be the pivotal decision.
Fiery, hard-nosed wing Josh Hart has become a huge fan favorite and his popularity continues to grow, according to Vaccaro, who says the photo of Hart with a defiant look on his bloodied face after he caught an errant elbow epitomizes the toughness and grit of the team.

Knicks Notes: Game 6, Hart, Towns, Players’ Meeting

May 17th, 2025 at 7:20pm CST by Arthur Hill

There were celebrations inside and outside of Madison Square Garden Friday night as the Knicks disposed of the Celtics in their second-round series, but players and coaches realize their job is only half done, writes Steve Popper of Newsday. With New York headed to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years, the focus is preparing for Indiana rather than celebrating the achievement.

“I think the way you have to look at it is whatever your ceiling is, that’s what you’re striving for,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “You’re trying to go past whatever the expectations are for you. If everyone commits to that, the challenge is to bring the best out of everybody. The goal is always to win a championship. We’ve got eight wins. We need 16. And each one gets harder and harder. So you’ve got to keep fighting and you’ve got to understand how important that is. “

Popper notes that while fans were savoring the moment, the Knicks were reserved after closing out Boston with a resounding 38-point win. The four starters who participated in the post-game press conference were relatively emotionless, while the fifth, OG Anunoby, didn’t have much to say to reporters in the locker room.

“Obviously, I’m new here, but I just know how much New York loves their sports, especially the Knicks, so just all excited to be a part of it,” Mikal Bridges said. “They’re enjoying it now for us, but we have way more to go. Yeah, there’s more to do. We’re not done. That’s what it is. We came out there tonight to play hard and handle business, but our season’s not over. We’ve got so much more to go and we play on Wednesday, so get ready to prepare for them. Whole different team and a whole new series.”

There’s more from New York:

Friday’s game was especially memorable for Josh Hart, who posted the first triple-double in Knicks’ playoff history since Walt Frazier did it in 1972, per Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Hart finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists along with a plus-24 rating in 33 minutes. “That’s who he is. He impacts the game in a lot of different ways,” Thibodeau said. “Sometimes people get stuck on, ‘Well, he didn’t shoot the ball, or he didn’t do this.’ “Well, what he is is a basketball player, so it’s transition. It’s the pace. It’s playing out of pocket. It’s making corner threes. It’s doing all the dribble-handoff, hustle plays, offensive rebounds. And then, defensively being everywhere and coming up with big rebounds. I think when you play with that kind of effort, it’s inspiring to the team.”
Karl-Anthony Towns had been in a slump for much of the series, but he broke out in a big way with 21 points and 12 rebounds in Game 6, notes Peter Botte of The New York Post. Towns led the charge with 16 first-half points as the Knicks held a 27-point lead at intermission. “My teammates trusted me in positions to score, and I’m glad I was able to repay their trust with some buckets,” he said. “So it’s really a testament to my teammates keeping me involved and allowing me to be aggressive.”
Fred Katz of The Athletic takes a look inside a players-only meeting held after the Game 5 loss in Boston. There was a feeling that the team let up in the wake of Jayson Tatum‘s Achilles tear and didn’t approach the game with enough intensity, according to Katz. “The whole day of Game 5, it just wasn’t us,” Jalen Brunson said. “And we knew that. We reflected on it, and we came back and we said, ‘We need to be ready. We need to be better.’ The way we prepared, the way we talked out there, the way we made it an emphasis to have each other’s back and to continue to cover for each other … focus on the little things, and we did that.”

Celtics’ Jaylen Brown On Loss To Knicks: ‘Feels Like Death’

May 17th, 2025 at 8:21am CST by Rory Maher

The defending champion Celtics were eliminated from the playoffs on Friday, having been blown out by the Knicks in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

“Finishing in May feels weird, it’s definitely not something we were prepared for,” said Celtics star Jaylen Brown, who fouled out before the end of the third quarter after scoring 20 points but with seven turnovers. “Things didn’t go our way this year, and it’s unfortunate.

“But we hold our head up regardless. Losing to the Knicks feels like death. But I was always taught that there’s life after death, so we’ll get ready for whatever’s next in the journey.”

Boston had an unexpectedly poor start to the second-round series, losing the first two games at home after holding 20-point second-half leads in each contest. Things went from bad to worse in Game 4, when the Celtics blew another double-digit second-half lead and perennial All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum sustained a torn Achilles tendon.

While the Celtics had their chances, especially early on in the series, they were thoroughly outplayed in Game 6. Head coach Joe Mazzulla made sure to credit the Knicks for their dominant performance, Windhorst notes.

“We ran into a great team. You have to tip your hat off to the Knicks,” Mazzulla said. “They outplayed us. They played better.”

As Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe writes, the Celtics now face a summer of uncertainty due to Tatum’s injury, their extremely expensive roster, and the restrictions of the NBA’s tax aprons.

Center Kristaps Porzingis, who battled “extreme fatigue” — one of the lingering effects of a mysterious February illness that was never identified — throughout the playoffs, could be on the trading block this offseason, according to Himmselbach. Veteran guard Jrue Holiday could be in the same boat.

Himmelsbach also suggests that big man Al Horford could opt to retire. Windhorst recently reported the impending free agent hopes to re-sign with the Celtics, but that was before Tatum’s injury. Horford will turn 39 years old in early June.

But the team wasn’t thinking about the future in the immediate aftermath of the loss.

“It sucks,” guard Derrick White said. “You’ll never get this season back. You’re never going to have the exact same team again.”

New York, which entered the playoffs as the No. 3 seed in the East, will now face No. 4 Indiana in the team’s first conference final appearance in 25 years.

Knicks Notes: Towns, Starting Five, Robinson, Achiuwa

May 16th, 2025 at 2:56pm CST by Luke Adams

After averaging 24.4 points and 16.9 field goal tries per game during the regular season, Karl-Anthony Towns has attempted 17 or more shots in just three of 11 playoff outings so far this spring and has been held below 24 points in all five games in the Knicks‘ second-round series vs. Boston.

Towns was limited to 5-of-11 shooting from the field in New York’s Game 5 loss, with many of his 19 points coming in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach, prompting Stefan Bondy of The New York Post and Ian Begley of SNY.tv to write that the Knicks need to find a way to unlock Towns and get him more involved in the offensive game plan.

Towns shot 42.0% on 4.7 three-point attempts per game during the regular season but has gone just 2-of-13 in five games against Boston. He suggested after Game 5 that the decline in his shots from beyond the arc has been by design, per Begley.

“I haven’t really been out there really. Haven’t had the chance to shoot. We’ve just been trying to do our game plan and I’m just trying to execute at the highest level,” Towns said. “So I’m trying to do most of my damage inside and do whatever my team asks of me.”

As Begley points out, Towns made just one outside shot in his first two games against Detroit in the conference quarterfinals before knocking down nine and scoring 58 total points in Games 3 and 4, so there’s a recent precedent for him bouncing back and coming up big when the Knicks need him most.

Here’s more on the Knicks ahead of Friday’s Game 6:

Despite being built around a strong starting five, the Knicks haven’t been as dominant with Towns, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart on the court as hoped. That lineup had just a +1.9 net rating in 330 minutes from Christmas Day through the end of the regular season and has posted a -7.3 mark in the playoffs, including -16.3 in the second round. With that in mind, Fred Katz of The Athletic considers whether or not a starting lineup tweak makes sense.
The Knicks acquired Bridges and Anunoby for situations like this one, according to Chris Herring of ESPN, who looks at the impact the two standout wings have made in New York and explores how they could make a difference in Game 6.
Mitchell Robinson‘s 6-of-6 performance from the free throw line was a silver lining for the Knicks in Game 5 and could make him an even more valuable weapon if he can keep it up, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Despite the fact that New York leads the series 3-2, Robinson’s is the only Knick who has a positive net rating (+10.6) vs. Boston.
The Knicks have listed big man Precious Achiuwa as questionable for Friday’s game due to a right ankle sprain. Achiwua’s status doesn’t figure to have any impact on Tom Thibodeau‘s rotation, since he has only played 15 total minutes in the series.

2025 NBA Draft Picks By Team

May 16th, 2025 at 1:19pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets and Jazz were among the teams who left Monday’s draft lottery disappointed, as Brooklyn slipped two spots to No. 8 while Utah, the NBA’s worst team during the 2024/25 season, ended up at No. 6.

Still, while they won’t be picking as high in the lottery as they might like, the Nets and Jazz will enter this year’s draft armed with plenty of ammunition. Brooklyn controls a league-high five 2025 draft picks, including four first-rounders and an early second-rounder. Utah, meanwhile, is one of just two teams (along with the Magic) controlling four picks in this year’s draft, including a pair of first-rounders.

Four other clubs – the Spurs, Hornets, Wizards, and Thunder – own three picks apiece, so those seven teams combine to control 25 of the 59 selections in the 2025 draft.

In addition to those teams with three or more picks, 12 more clubs own a pair of 2025 draft selections, while another 10 control one apiece. That latter group includes the Mavericks, whose No. 1 overall pick is their only selection in this year’s draft.

That leaves just a single NBA team without a draft pick this year: the Nuggets. Denver traded its 2025 first-rounder to Orlando back in 2021 as part of a package for Aaron Gordon in a deal that has worked out exceedingly well for the 2023 champions and sent out its 2025 second-rounder last offseason in a Reggie Jackson salary-dump. The Nuggets could still trade into this draft, but for now they’re the only team on track to sit it out.

To present a clearer picture of which teams are most – and least – stocked with picks for the 2025 NBA draft, we’ve rounded up all 59 selections by team in the space below. Let’s dive in…

Teams with more than two picks:

Brooklyn Nets (5): 8, 19, 26, 27, 36
Utah Jazz (4): 5, 21, 43, 53
Orlando Magic (4): 16, 25, 46, 57
San Antonio Spurs (3): 2, 14, 38
Charlotte Hornets (3): 4, 33, 34
Washington Wizards (3): 6, 18, 40
Oklahoma City Thunder (3): 15, 24, 44

Teams with two picks:

Philadelphia 76ers: 3, 35
Toronto Raptors: 9, 39
Houston Rockets: 10, 59
Chicago Bulls: 12, 45
Atlanta Hawks: 13, 22
Minnesota Timberwolves: 17, 31
Indiana Pacers: 23, 54
Boston Celtics: 28, 32
Phoenix Suns: 29, 52
Los Angeles Clippers: 30, 51
Memphis Grizzlies: 48, 56
Cleveland Cavaliers: 49, 58

Teams with one pick:

Dallas Mavericks: 1
New Orleans Pelicans: 7
Portland Trail Blazers: 11
Miami Heat: 20
Detroit Pistons: 37
Golden State Warriors: 41
Sacramento Kings: 42
Milwaukee Bucks: 47
New York Knicks: 50
Los Angeles Lakers: 55

Teams with no picks:

Denver Nuggets

Knicks Notes: Brunson, Anunoby, Hart, Tucker, Robinson

May 14th, 2025 at 3:58pm CST by Luke Adams

A Game 4 victory over Boston on Monday brought the Knicks to within one win of their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 25 years. While Jalen Brunson was happy with that victory, he made a point of calming down some of his celebrating teammates at the end of the game, according to Chris Herring of ESPN.

“I was actually telling everyone to get off the court. I was like, it’s nothing to celebrate,” Brunson said.

The Knicks are well positioned to finish off the Celtics, who will be without star forward Jayson Tatum for the rest of the series after he tore his Achilles in Game 4. But Brunson recognizes that the defending champions won’t go down easily and wants his team to remember that there’s work to be done. He told reporters after Monday’s victory that the team did a good job of playing with urgency while holding a 2-1 series lead.

“I think (there) was a sense of urgency, desperation. Knowing that we had a great opportunity against a really good team,” Brunson said. “I don’t even think we’re playing our best basketball yet. We have a team that’s still fairly new this year, and we have a long way to go be the best team we can be. There’s always time to learn for us. We’re never satisfied, and that’s the mentality.”

Here’s more on the Knicks ahead of Wednesday’s Game 5:

OG Anunoby had an injury scare at the end of the first quarter of Game 4, holding his hamstring while leaving the court, but returned to action and was a difference-maker for the Knicks, writes Peter Botte of The New York Post. After making just 3-of-15 shots from the field in Games 2 and 3, Anunoby had 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting on Monday in what head coach Tom Thibodeau described as a “huge” performance. “Just the toughness, the timely plays, flying all over the place,” Thibodeau said. “… He’s so disruptive.”
Knicks forward Josh Hart was amused to receive a trophy from the NBA for being this season’s “minutes champion,” as ESPN relays (via Twitter). No qualified player averaged more minutes per game in 2024/25 than Hart’s 37.6. “Guess I got my cardio in this year,” he wrote in an Instagram story that included several crying-laughing emojis.
Veteran forward P.J. Tucker hasn’t played a single minute for the Knicks in the postseason after appearing in just three regular season games, but he’s still making an impact, earning a shout-out from Hart after Game 4 for his “champion” mentality, as Jared Schwartz of The New York Post relays. “The way he talks, the way he leads,” Brunson added. “Obviously, he’s been around the league a long time and he has a lot of experience and so when he talks, we listen. So, having a guy like that on our team has been remarkable for us. He’s been fantastic since he’s been there.”
Fred Katz of The Athletic explores the outsized impact that center Mitchell Robinson is having on the boards in a fairly limited role this series.

Knicks Notes: Stagnant Offense, Robinson, Starting Five

May 12th, 2025 at 5:28pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks know they have to create more havoc on defense to energize their offense, Jared Schwartz of the New York Post writes. Their halfcourt offense has frequently bogged down, although they’ve managed to take a 2-1 lead in the series against the Celtics. Game 4 will be held tonight.

“When you’re not causing turnovers and you’re getting the ball under the rim, taking it out every possession, it’s tough to have that speed,” forward Josh Hart said. “So we have to try to cause more turnovers, play better defense and finish possessions with rebounds and run, and even when we do take the ball out, have pace to our offense and not just be standing around being so stagnant.”

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau had a similar viewpoint.

“I think for anybody, live-ball turnovers that put you into the open floor, get you easy baskets,” he said. “So that’s a big part of the game, and that’s the fight. I think it’s the challenge for each team to try to create as many as you can, because you know what it does for your offense. It fuels your offense.”

We have more on the Knicks:

Fans exasperated by Mitchell Robinson‘s free throw shooting futility got a response from the Knicks center and it’s probably not what they want to hear. Robinson posted on his Instagram Live account (hat tip to Erich Richter of the New York Post) on Sunday that he’s not interested in the fans’ opinions. “So, I know y’all commenting and doing all the stupid stuff, thinking that I really care,” he said. “I really don’t. Y’all know what I care about: this (pointing to his truck), playing basketball, and my daughter. All the other stuff, I really don’t care for. … Y’all should know me by now. Been here seven years. … Anyway, Happy Mother’s Day. Y’all enjoy yourselves.” Robinson is shooting just 28.9 percent from the free throw line during the playoffs, leading opponents to intentionally foul him during certain stretches of games.
The Knicks have won two games despite their starting five — Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns — being outscored by 29 points through the first three games, Schwartz said. “I think a big part of that is how we’re starting games and starting the second half,” Hart said. “We haven’t done a good job imposing our will into the game from the jump. That’s something that we struggled with in Detroit also, coming out of the half. There were times we had a 10-, 12-point lead and then we surrendered it in the first three, four minutes of the half. That unit, we have to come out with more sense of urgency, more desperation, more competitiveness and let everything else fall into place.”
Thibodeau played it coy during his pregame press conference on Monday regarding a lineup change. When asked if he might insert Robinson, the coach replied, “There’s a lot of thoughts you put into it,” James Edwards of The Athletic tweets. Asked if he would stick with his usual starting five, the coach said, “We could be.”

Injury Notes: Towns, Hauser, Garland, Dillingham, Tyson

May 11th, 2025 at 7:22pm CST by Luke Adams

Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns appeared to suffer a hand or finger injury in Saturday’s Game 3 loss to Boston, but he was a full participant in practice on Sunday and isn’t listed on the injury report for Monday’s Game 4, per Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News and Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter links).

It’s positive news for the Knicks after both Towns and head coach Tom Thibodeau were cagey about the potential injury following Game 3. Towns is coming off his worst shooting game of the postseason, as he made just 5-of-18 field goal attempts on Saturday, including 1-of-5 three-pointers.

The only player on Monday’s injury report for either team is Celtics forward Sam Hauser, who has been upgraded to questionable after having been initially listed as doubtful and then downgraded to out for each of the past two games. While it remains to be seen if he’ll be active for Game 4, the new designation suggests he’s nearing a return.

“He’s getting there,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said on Sunday (Twitter video link via CLNS Media). “He’s getting better. He’s day-to-day.”

Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the NBA:

The three injured Cavaliers who returned for Game 3 – Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and De’Andre Hunter – were no longer on the injury report ahead of Game 4 on Sunday evening. Although head coach Kenny Atkinson said the trio has recovered well in the past couple days, he identified Garland as the player the Cavs are still most worried about and whose minutes will be monitored the closest (Twitter links via Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star). “He’s doing what he can do. I’ll just put it that way,” Atkinson said of the point guard. “You saw it the other night. I got him in and out. It’s something he’s grinding through. There’s been a lot of stuff that’s gone into him playing.”
The Timberwolves‘ injury report for Monday’s Game 4 is clean, the team announced today (via Twitter). Rookie guard Rob Dillingham had been the only player listed on the injury report as of late due to a sprained ankle. He was upgraded to available for Game 3 and is now off the report altogether, though he’s unlikely to play outside of garbage time.
Nuggets forward Hunter Tyson, who has only played in garbage time during the postseason, was inactive for Game 4 on Sunday due to a right ankle sprain, according to the club (Twitter link).

Knicks Notes: Robinson, Brunson, Anunoby, Hart

May 11th, 2025 at 9:59am CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics are taking advantage of Mitchell Robinson‘s weakness as a free throw shooter and creating a difficult decision for Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscription required). Boston coach Joe Mazzulla employed the “Hack-a-Mitch” strategy repeatedly in Game 3, sending the backup center to the line 12 times. He only made four of those attempts, and Bondy observes that the misses included an air ball and several line drives that had no chance of going in.

“It’s a tough position to be in, especially mentally, but you have to encourage,” Jalen Brunson said. “We’re going to have each other’s backs, regardless.”

Robinson is 11-of-38 from the line (29%) since the playoffs began, which makes it hard to keep him on the court. Bondy notes that he’s the team’s best rebounder and rim protector, and he’s able to switch onto Boston’s star wings on pick-and-rolls. He had six offensive rebounds on Saturday, but he only played 19 minutes because his inefficiency at the line resulted in too many empty possessions.

“If he’s making them, he stays,” Thibodeau said. “If he’s not, you have to get him out. Is his impact on the game more beneficial to leave him in? There are a lot of factors that go into that.”

There’s more from New York:

Brunson is one of the NBA’s best clutch performers, but he hasn’t been delivering enough early offense in this series as the Knicks have faced big deficits in all three games, observes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Brunson is shooting just 36.5% from the field through the first three quarters, but he doesn’t plan to change his approach. “Continue to shoot my shot, do the things I work on, continue to stay confident, that’s the biggest thing,” he said after Saturday’s loss. “Just trust what I do. That’s basically it right there.”
The Knicks will need more offense from OG Anunoby to survive the series, states Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. Anunoby was limited to 1-of-6 from the field in Game 3, with his only basket coming on a third quarter dunk. Schwartz points out that New York is 8-0 in playoff games when Anunoby takes at least 14 shots, but just 5-9 when he doesn’t.
The Celtics were able to torch the Knicks from three-point range after being held in check the first two games, and Josh Hart believes his team wasn’t aggressive enough in challenging Boston’s shooters, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. “It was not what it should have been,” Hart said. “It should have been more physical, more aggressive. We let them get into a rhythm early and feeling good early. That’s something that we can’t do. We made the mistake on that and, like I said, we have to learn from it.”