Josh Hart shares bold opinion on theoretical Knicks series vs Boston Celtics in 2024 playoffs
Josh Hart believes the NY Knicks would've forced a six or seven-game series in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics during the 2024 NBA Playoffs had his team escaped the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
"I feel like if we were healthy and we got to play Boston, that probably would have been the best series in the playoffs," Hart said (h/t All Knicks). "I feel like that goes six or seven [games]. That would be a competitive as hell six or seven games."
The Knicks were bounced in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals by the Indiana Pacers. Indy got a star performance from Tyrese Haliburton (26 points, six assists, four rebounds) and no less than 17 points from every Pacers starter. That series made Haliburton such a villain at MSG that he appeared during a WWE Smackdown taping as an antagonist to the World's Most Famous Arena. He's basically the new Trae Young in the boroughs.
Haliburton is no villain to the Celtics fanbase, though. He was injured during Game 2 and missed the third and fourth games of the series sweep.
Boston had no issues running through the Eastern Conference and the Dallas Mavericks throughout the 2024 postseason, losing a total of three games. Could it have lost that many games in a single series against the Knicks?
Knicks would've given Boston Celtics toughest challenge in postseason
Hart saying his team could've taken the historic 2023-24 Celtics to six or seven games is beyond bold since no team was able to do that or looked close to doing so, but of any team in the Association, NY likely had the best chance of doing it.
MSG was inarguably the best home court in the playoffs, powering an injured Knicks team past the Philadelphia 76ers and nearly past the Pacers. It's not hard to imagine NY stealing one at home. It's tough to say whether or not they would've beaten the Cs on the TD Garden parquet, though.
Either way, this is offseason talk. Hart's words can only be backed up on the court next season. Perhaps improving on a 1-4 record against Boston from 2023-24 next season could add some credibility to this quasi-callout.