The Knicks have landed in the second round of the NBA playoffs for a third straight year, marking the first time the franchise has accomplished that feat since a nine-year heyday streak of at least one postseason advancement from 1992-2000.
Now comes the even harder part and far more daunting task for these Knicks, after they survived all they could handle in their six games against the up-and-coming and rough-and-tumble Pistons in the opening round.
That’s right, the peaking Celtics — whose breezy, five-game elimination of Orlando gives them a sparkling record of 33-7 over their past 40 games — await beginning Monday night in Boston.
The defending league champions represent a most formidable opponent in the second round in every conceivable way for the Knicks — who dropped all four head-to-head meetings during the regular season, including a blowout loss led inside a celebratory TD Garden to open the 82-game slate.