The volume in the building kept increasing. The noise grew deafening.
The Knicks were headed to the Eastern Conference finals and everyone inside Madison Square Garden knew it.
“Knicks in six!” the orange and blue faithful chanted several times throughout this unexpected rout. “Knicks in six!”
As the lead kept expanding, all the way up to 41 points, Knicks fans somehow got louder. It was earsplitting when Jaylen Brown fouled out with 2:50 remaining in the third quarter. Somehow the roar became even more thunderous when Josh Hart beat multiple Celtics to an offensive rebound near the 3-point line and found OG Anunoby for a 3-pointer.
The Knicks didn’t just advance Friday night. They didn’t just clinch a playoff series at MSG for the first time since 1999.
They did so emphatically, with the kind of performance that, if sustained, can lead to a parade up the Canyon of Heroes.
They sent the defending champions home with their tails between their legs.
Jayon Tatum, the injured Celtics superstar, wouldn’t have made a difference in this 119-81 Game 6 bludgeoning that moved the Knicks to within four games of the NBA Finals.
Up next is a familiar foe: The Pacers, who ended their season a year ago.
Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals is Wednesday night at the Garden.
This was a Knicks fan’s fever dream, ending the hated Celtics’ season with a beatdown of epic proportions. It all went their way. It was so lopsided, even Tom Thibodeau began to empty his bench with 5:02 remaining, to the relief of all Knicks fans.
Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns, the offseason additions who struggled so mightily way back in that season-opening loss to the Celtics in Boston, were dynamic in combining for 43 points.
OG Anunoby (23 points) found his shooting touch as the Knicks improved to 6-0 when he scores 20 or more. Jalen Brunson (23 points, six assists) was efficient.
Josh Hart produced the first Knicks playoff triple-double since Walt Frazier in 1972, tallying 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
All postseason, the Knicks have shown the ability to be at their best when facing adversity. They trailed in the fourth quarter of their first seven playoff wins.
They rallied from 20 down in the first two games of this series, two victories that set the table for this massive upset. This was similar.
Two nights earlier, the Knicks were hammered in Boston by 25 points. They didn’t want to go back to TD Garden. There was immense pressure to get it done at home on Friday. With Tatum out, the Knicks were supposed to advance.
The signs were there immediately that this would not be like Game 5. The Knicks quickly raced out to an 11-5 lead despite being off target from 3-point range.
Their defense was suffocating. The ball moved on the other end of the floor.
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
It wasn’t until later in the first quarter that it became apparent how different this night would be.
That’s when, tied at 16, the Knicks reeled off 17 of the next 21 points to take a 13-point lead, their first double-digit advantage in the first half of the series.
At that point, Brunson had scored just two points and it didn’t matter.
Towns and Bridges had gotten going, combining for 21 first-quarter points.
A few possessions later, Brunson reentered the game, and scored on a reverse layup. Anunoby hit two free throws. It was now an 18-point game.
Then came the play of the half. On a missed Hart free throw, the Knicks threw the ball away. Derrick White went the other way and attacked the rim.
Out of nowhere, Miles McBride swatted his layup attempt off the glass and Hart scored on a baby jumper in the lane while being fouled. The Garden exploded. With the accompanying free throw, the Knicks were up 20, on their way to a monstrous 27-point edge at the break.
The halftime stats were staggering.
The Knicks had almost as many points in the paint (32) as the Celtics had points (37). They had four players in double figures and were plus-14 on the glass.
The second half was a celebration, a coronation for this seismic series victory. After it was over, there was a very subdued reaction on the court by the Knick players.
