Tom Thibodeau is on the verge of proving everybody wrong—including many New York Knicks fans.
One win. One single, solitary win. After their 121-113 victory over the Boston Celtics, this is all that separates the Knicks from their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2000.
History suggests they’ll get there. And if they do, Thibs will be able to take a victory lap—and will also be on the verge of doing the unthinkable.
Thibs is proving haters wrong during the playoffs
Thibodeau has not been perfect throughout the Knicks' playoff run. Heck, he's been far from perfect during this Celtics series. His stubbornness, or his delayed reaction, cost the Knicks serious ground in Game 3.
Still, you can't argue with the results. Nor can you claim they are lucky. Thibs has outcoached Celtics head honcho Joe Mazzulla during the semifinals. You read that correctly.
New York is switching more than ever, deviating from its core regular-season principles, and proving that Thibs has become more flexible than ever. Sure, Boston has missed a lot of shots it typically makes. It also built three consecutive 20-point leads through the first three games. The Knicks still won two of those tilts. Thibodeau was arguably the hero in Game 2, specifically.
More importantly, the Celtics in Game 4 hit their threes—37.5 percent of them, and they were drilling them at an even higher clip prior to the devastating Jayson Tatum injury.
The Knicks won anyway.
Thibs' defensive adjustments are a huge reason why. This includes not only switching, but the use of Mitchell Robinson. His impact on this series is beyond description. On Tuesday night, Thibs rolled him out for just over 25 minutes, the second-highest total for Robinson across both the regular season and playoffs.
New York's rotations in Game 4—and oftentimes throughout this series—were on point. Thibs has deployed Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby as apex predators on the defensive end. They are spearheading a scrappy effort that is figuring out enough ways to sustain, even when they're forced to scramble.
In the moment, this felt like the sequence of the game:
— DJ Zullo (@DJAceNBA) May 13, 2025
Bridges hits a mid-range pull-up to put New York ahead by one.
Bridges rotation as the low man to deny Porzingis at the rim sparking an early offense Anunoby layup.
Knicks lead by three. pic.twitter.com/ydVQulEPzg
Leaning into dual-big setups, after barely testing them out previously, is currently among Thibodeau's saving graces. Robinson and Karl-Anthony Towns have logged more minutes together in the playoffs (78) than they did during the regular season (47). The Knicks have won those stretches in Round 2 by 18 points, a top-five mark among all of their duos.
Thibs isn't going anywhere, folks
So much for #FireThibs, right?
It is almost certainly not happening now. Perhaps if the Knicks blow a 3-1 series, Thibs’ job will be in jeopardy. But this team isn’t squandering that advantage. Not the way Thibs has them playing.
This isn’t an attempt to rewrite history. So many Knicks fans have wanted—and maybe still want—him gone for valid reasons. The playing-time stuff matters. Uninventive offense matters. A failure to figure out how Towns can launch a reasonable number of threes matters. His glaring lack of flexibility to this point matters.
These concerns aren’t going away, not this series, not even if the Knicks make the Eastern Conference Finals, or for that matter, the NBA Finals. And yet, think about what we’re discussing: The Knicks potentially in the Eastern Conference Finals, after going through the reigning-champion Celtics, vying for a real, actual shot to make the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
Teams don’t get to that level, to this level, purely by accident or circumstances. Thibs may be benefiting from the heroics of Jalen Brunson, as well as others, but these runs are never about one person, or just about the players. Of course, it’s about them more than anyone. It’s also about those responsible for assembling the roster. It’s about the fans. It’s about the Celtics. And yeah, it’s about the head coach, about Thibs.
This Knicks team has displayed a measure of grit during these playoffs not seen, at all, during the regular season. It’s on Thibs for not getting them here sooner. But he also deserves credit for getting them here at all.
For all Thibs’ faults and foibles, he has overseen a visual and visceral culture shift, one that is now spilling over into conference finals territory. Win one more game, and he will be vindicated in a way, at a level nobody saw coming. And if that happens, while Thibs won’t suddenly become perfect, he will be here to stay.
Dan Favale is a Senior NBA Contributor for FanSided and National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.