The Blueprint

On a night that defied explanation, the Knicks won because everything finally went according to plan.

Holy S—. Did that really just happen?

Game 1: Knicks 108, Celtics 105

The further I got into last night’s postgame, the more it became clear that for many fans, this win exists in a different stratosphere from any that came before it in the Tom Thibodeau era.

Yes, this team that has frustrated us to no end finally came through with their grittiest victory of the season, holding the mights Celtics offense to just 30 points over the final 22:46 of the game.

Yes, they had one of the greatest playoff comebacks you’ll ever see, fighting back from down 20 points in the third quarter, on the road, against the defending NBA champions.

Yes, this win finally contained some of the adjustments fans have been clamoring for since October, most notably the decision to liberally switch on defense even if it meant that a weaker defender would be matched up with one of Boston’s best shot creators.

And yes, oh so very much yes, did the Knicks get away with winning a game they had every right to lose considering some of the boxes they weren’t able to check throughout the night.

It all factors in. Every last ounce of it.

But none of the above is why this victory stands on its own, above all that came before it in the five years since this regime came into power.

From the moment they acquired Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, the Celtics went about their business with a target on their back. In assembling a basketball team with no ostensible weakness, everyone in the league had them in their sights. They romped to an NBA title in the first year of that experiment, and were once again the favorites going into the 2025 postseason.

In the aftermath of Boston’s title parade, Leon Rose finally decided where he’d place the majority of the chips he had been hoarding. Mikal Bridges may not have resembled the typical player who yields a trade package containing every tradable first a team has to offer, but there was a reason the freight was so high. Among players potentially available on the market, Rose felt that Bridges gave the Knicks their best chance to match Boston’s wing dominance. For him, it was so vital that he acquired this specific sort of piece that he punted on the possibility he’d need those picks to acquire an upgrade from Julius Randle to be New York’s second offensive banana.

It wasn’t that Bridges himself would put the Knicks over the top (although the cost to get him certainly put a target on his own back, one which has colored how he’s been viewed by fans - including this one - since the day he first suited up). It was that the Knicks were forming a set. Leon Rose, it turned out, was a completist. He needed a trio of wings to fulfill his vision - a vision of beating Boston at their own game.

We know what happened next. With a hole at center, the Knicks acquired Karl-Anthony Towns, and with him, a whole host of additional questions when it came to toppling the NBA’s resident superpower. Towns made them more susceptible defensively but theoretically more potent offensively (ha).

Over the course of the regular season, the KAT discourse overshadowed everything else when it came to the Celtics. For three games, he was targeted relentlessly, while on offense, he offered little justification for his defensive weaknesses. The tide turned in the fourth game, and with it, New York had renewed hope heading into this matchup.

But lost in the sauce of those matchups was Leon’s original theory of the case. Somehow, some way, beating Boston would come back to those three premium wings. It would have to. They were too big a part of New York’s roster to be rendered scenery in the holy war we knew was coming.

Which brought us to Game 1. The Knicks could show the world that what they’d build might not have to be slapped with a “return to sender” sticker after all.

So far? So good.