The New York Knicks have only two regular-season games left, and they still don't know who they'll face in the first round of the playoffs. New York has spent most of the season in third place in the East, but hasn't clinched the seed.
The Pacers sit one game behind the Knicks and seem determined to finish as the No. 4 seed. Indiana will be without Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner, Andrew Nembhard, Ben Sheppard, and Aaron Neismith on Friday against Orlando.
Meanwhile, New York isn't too concerned about locking in the third seed. OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, and Mitchell Robinson didn't play in Thursday's loss to Detroit. Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Anunoby, and Hart are questionable for Friday's game against Cleveland.
If the season ended today, the Knicks would play the Pistons in the first round. The draw to avoiding the No. 3 seed is not facing the Celtics in the second round. Facing Detroit in the first round wouldn't be a walk in the park, either. Cade Cunningham is a top young guard in the league, but that doesn't mean he'd be the best player on a court shared with Brunson. Not everyone thinks that, though.
"The best player on the court is going to be Cade Cunningham." 😳 @DavidDTSS says the Knicks won't have the best player on the court in a playoff series against the Pistons 👀 pic.twitter.com/0XKuNdKyc2
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 11, 2025
Writer makes bold Cade Cunningham claim that Jalen Brunson can prove wrong
Not to take away from the season that Cunningham and the Pistons are having, but Brunson is an elite playoff performer. Cunningham hasn't proven himself in the postseason, at least not yet.
Remember what Brunson did in Dallas when Luka Doncic missed a few games in what was the guard's final season with the Mavericks? A year later, people assumed that Donovan Mitchell would dominate Brunson and the Knicks in 2023, but look what happened. Brunson was the best player on the court in that series.
The star point guard has averaged 30.3 points, 6.6 assists, and 4.0 rebounds for New York in 30 postseason games. The lights aren't too bright for Brunson, which became apparent after he signed with the Knicks in free agency, elevating the team to another level. He's still on one of the best contracts in the league, after taking a major pay cut this past summer.
People have doubted Brunson throughout his basketball career. He was a second-round pick in 2018 and wasn't supposed to turn into the player he is today. He doesn't let the outside noise get to him, but if he sees the above clip of Dennis saying that Cunningham will outperform him in a potential first-round matchup, it might add some fuel to the fire.