With their 124-95 blowout win over the Pistons on Sunday night, Cleveland officially punched their ticket to the 2026 Eastern Conference Finals, where they'll be squaring off against a well-rested New York Knicks team.
Considering the fact that they've steamrolled their way through the first two rounds of action via an 8-2 record and the highest point differential at plus-19.4, it's more than evident that the Knicks are absolutely dominating thus far in this year's postseason.
And while the lion's share of credit for their ridiculous production is being given to the club's core figures of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, Donovan Mitchell seems to fully understand that New York has been far more than a mere two-man show.
Though he acknowledged the aforementioned All-Stars' sensational play during his post-Game 7 presser, noting that the team's success "obviously starts" with them, the Cavs cornerstone made sure to shed light on several other aspects of the Knicks' rotation, particularly their bench unit that, as he correctly put it, "has been great."
In many ways, New York's reserves have proven to be arguably their biggest secret weapon during this year's playoff run.
Knicks bench unit has been remarkable this postseason
Unlike in years past, when former head coach Tom Thibodeau ran the show, this Mike Brown-led Knicks team is more than willing to utilize its depth.
All throughout the regular season, this was excitingly proven to be the case, and, now in the midst of a title-round-or-bust postseason, the leveling up of their second unit has become all the more apparent.
Whether it's Miles McBride's steady long-range shooting that has him splashing in on shots from downtown at a 44.9 percent clip or Mitchell Robinson pulling down a ridiculous 8.1 offensive rebounds per 100 possessions, the Knicks' bench has been an all-around nightmare for opposing clubs.
Heading into round three, as a collective, New York's reserves rank fifth in points per game (32.4), second in both plus-minus (plus-5.6) and offensive boards per game (5.5), and either stand alone or are tied at first place in effective field goal percentage (57.1), opponent three-point shooting (27.2), and net rating (8.4).
It's because of this high level of productivity that their primary starters have all been able to see drop-offs in on-court action between this year and last year's postseason run by roughly 4.0 or more minutes per game, and why they've been able to continue on with their dominant play even with someone as vital as OG Anunoby being sidelined with a hamstring strain for the past few outings.
At this point, it's truly undeniable how important the Knicks' bench has been to their success in this year's playoffs, and, heading into the conference finals, Donovan Mitchell is publicly giving them their flowers.
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