The Knicks enter their second-round matchup against the Celtics as significant underdogs. ESPN's panel of 12 NBA experts unanimously picked the Celtics to win the series, a feeling that seems to be shared by most. It makes sense they would be underdogs; the Celtics dominated the Knicks in their four matchups in the regular season and looked like the far-superior team for almost every minute of those games.
Whatever the Knicks' chances are of pulling off an upset against the champions, they will need to play near-perfect basketball to do so. Part of that will come with winning the game in the margins, through rebounding on both ends of the floor.
The Celtics are a prolific 3-point shooting team. They averaged 48.2 3-point attempts per game. The Knicks won't be able to get the volume of threes up to match the Celtics. In the regular season, they only averaged 36.9 3-point attempts per game, the fourth-lowest volume in the league.
When the Celtics' 3-point shots are falling, the score can get out of control in just a few possessions. When they aren't falling, it will become paramount that the Knicks do not give them any opportunities to get a second look.
Winning the rebound battle: defensive end
The Celtics' guards and wings love to crash from the corners. The Knicks are going to have to locate them and box out at all times throughout the series.
In the two plays from the regular season below, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday give the Celtics a second opportunity by corralling an offensive rebound after the Knicks forced a miss. In the first play, Hart doesn't box out White, who rises above him to tap the ball out. In the second play, Jalen Brunson does a good job of locating Holiday, but gets outmaneuvered, leading to three points for Boston.
— bk (@vidaudio45) May 5, 2025
Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the league's most dominant defensive rebounders. He averaged 9.8 in the regular season, good for the third-most in the league. While getting Towns going on offense will be priority one for the Knicks, they will need him to be a rebounding force inside on the defensive end as well.
Winning the rebound battle: offensive end
In the first round, the Knicks averaged 16.8 second-chance points per game, the third-most of any team. The Celtics, meanwhile, only averaged 12.6, which was the third lowest. When looking at each team's offensive rebounding numbers, it is easy to see why. The Knicks pulled in 10.7 offensive rebounds per game, while the Celtics were at 8.8.
Mitchell Robinson is arguably the best per-minute offensive rebounder in the league. The Knicks have had all kinds of issues with their bench production this season. Robinson's rebounding ability off the bench is a massive advantage, however. Whether he is playing alongside Towns or in place of him, the Knicks' bigs will have the opportunity to control the rebounding battle at all times.
— AOP_NBA (@aop_nba) May 5, 2025
Then there is Josh Hart, who is very likely the best inch-for-inch rebounder in the league. In the first round, Hart led all players who were 6 feet and 7 inches or shorter in total rebounds, with 52. There are a million things that need to break right for the Knicks to win this series, but it starts with doing the little things. If the Knicks can control the boards, they set themselves up to have a chance.