The New York Knicks walked into a hostile road environment Sunday night and delivered one of the most dominant playoff performances in franchise history. After the 144-114 win over the Philadelphia 76ers completed a second-round sweep, head coach Mike Brown opened his postgame press conference with a message that immediately shifted attention away from basketball.
“Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there,” Brown said. “Mom, happy Mother’s Day. I love you. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers in my family again, as well as everybody else around the world. Mothers are the backbone of most families, if not all families.”
Once Brown turned to basketball, he praised the Knicks for maintaining composure in what he called “the hardest games to play.”
“Closeout games are the hardest games to play because the level of desperation from the other team, especially when you’re on the road and you factor in your opponent’s home crowd,” Brown said. “So I give our guys a lot of credit.”
The Knicks backed up their coach’s words with one of the best offensive games of the postseason. New York tied the NBA playoff record with 25 made 3-pointers and finished with 33 assists on 49 made baskets. The Knicks also grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and scored 20 fast-break points.
Brown repeatedly pointed to spacing as the key reason the offense exploded.
“If I had to say one thing, it’s the spacing,” Brown said. “Those guys are so quick. They’re so athletic. They do a great job of going to take the basketball. If you’re not spaced the right way, you’re not going to get great looks.”
New York shot 25-for-44 from deep, including an opening barrage from Miles McBride, who started in place of the injured OG Anunoby and scored 25 points while knocking down seven 3-pointers.
Brown delivered one of the most memorable lines of the night when asked about McBride’s confidence.
“You mentioned Deuce and kind of that belief he has in himself,” a reporter said. Brown quickly answered: “Hey, his mother’s day comes from his mom. Get that correct. It comes from his mom.”
Brown added: “He’s just tough minded. He’s a football player. In order to have a chance in life in anything you do, you have to have a short memory and he definitely has a short memory.”
The Knicks received contributions throughout the rotation. Jalen Brunson scored 22 points with six 3-pointers, while Karl-Anthony Towns added 17 points and 10 assists in only 20 minutes. Josh Hart finished with 17 points and nine rebounds.
Brown also singled out Hart’s impact beyond the stat sheet.
“He’s one of the best connectors I’ve ever been around,” Brown said. “He’s up there with Andre Iguodala in my opinion.”
The Knicks have now won seven consecutive playoff games and advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight season. Brown replaced Tom Thibodeau last offseason and has quickly built a team identity centered on pace, spacing and ball movement.
Sunday’s game also highlighted how heavily Knicks fans traveled to Philadelphia. Chants regularly echoed throughout Xfinity Mobile Arena, and Brown admitted he underestimated the reach of the fan base before taking the job.
“I got a lot of respect for you Knicks fans,” Brown said. “The more you’re around that, the more you appreciate and understand why they are like that. But more than anything else they’re knowledgeable.”
Brown later connected New York’s playoff run to lessons learned from championship teams he previously coached with under Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich.
“All those teams sacrificed. All those teams were connected,” Brown said. “All those teams had a competitive spirit and all those teams believed in the process and each other throughout the course of the year while holding each other accountable.”
The Knicks now await the winner of the Cleveland Cavaliers-Detroit Pistons series with momentum that has overwhelmed opponents through two playoff rounds. New York’s 19.4-point average margin of victory is currently the largest through two rounds in the modern 16-team playoff era.
