The Knicks Are Rolling at a Historic Pace With Game 1 Stomping of 76ers—Can It Continue?

The Knicks had the longest layoff between the first and second round of any Eastern Conference team. New York had the gall to take care of the Hawks in six games, while the 76ers, Pistons and Cavaliers all had to win a Game 7 to move on.

Atlanta made its series with the Knicks interesting as the Hawks had a 2–1 lead before New York turned it on and won the final three games of the series. Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and Co. completed a historic beatdown to close out Atlanta with a 51-point win where New York’s 47-point lead at halftime was the largest in playoff history and tied for the second-largest in any NBA game.

Onto the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Knicks met the 76ers in Game 1 Monday night after Philadelphia eliminated Boston on Saturday. It was the first Game 7 win of Joel Embiid’s career which gave Philly some momentum as it headed to Madison Square Garden even with just a day in between games. That was until the Sixers ran into this Knicks team, who’s on a roll like no other team in playoff history.

Brunson dropped 35 points Monday to lead New York in a 137–98 beatdown of the Sixers. With the 39-point win, the Knicks became the first team in NBA history to win three straight playoff games by 25 or more points. They have won their last three games by 119 points combined, which is the largest point differential in any three-game span in NBA playoff history according to ClutchPoints’ Tomer Azarly.

cap beats the buzzer 🚨

🪣 27 PTS pic.twitter.com/7NVemIA5TC
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) May 5, 2026

These Knicks are on a historic heater, which begs the question whether it continue as the franchise hopes to make its first trip to the NBA Finals since 1999.

How has New York accomplished its historic playoff run?

Brunson has certainly driven most of the Knicks’ offensive power over the last three games, per usual. He scored 39 points in Game 5 against the Hawks and had just 17 in the close-out game, but he didn’t need to do as much given the lopsided score. In Monday’s Game 1, he was extremely efficient from the field with the 35 points on 12-for-18 from the field, 3-for-6 from three-point range and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Towns had a triple-double in just 28 minutes in Game 6 against the Hawks and had 17 points as he drained three triples to open the series with Philly.

OG Anunoby went off for 29 points as he could barely miss in the Knicks’ historic beatdown of the Hawks. He rode that into the next series with 18 points on 7-for-8 from the field and 2-for-2 from three. Mikal Bridges has turned it on in particular with his two best games of the playoffs over the Knicks’ past two games. He struggled shooting the ball toward the end of the regular season, but he’s hit five of his seven three-point attempts over the past two games as he’s appeared to get going at the right time.

As a unit, the Knicks are unconsious from the floor right now. They shot 63% from the floor and 51% from three Monday night. Over the past three games, New York has hit 59.7% of its shots and 43.4% of its threes. Thus far in the playoffs, the Knicks have a 21.4 net rating which is the best of any team—even the Thunder.

Can this incredible Knicks run continue?

Karl-Anthony Towns and the Knicks hope to make a run through the Eastern Conference | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

No team will shoot 51% from three-point land every game, but what the Knicks are doing right now feels sustainable even if they come back down to earth a bit shooting wise. Defense tightens up across the board in the postseason, but New York has buckled down on that end particularly well. The Knicks have a 103.1 defensive rating so far in the playoffs, nearly 10 points better from their 112.3 mark from the regular season. On the offensive end, they are scoring much easier than any other team in the East with Brunson, Towns, Anunoby and Bridges all threats to pop off on any given night.

It’s just one game in the series while Philly was on short rest, but the Knicks look a lot like the team to beat in the Eastern Conference right now.