IT WASN'T QUITE a crisis point, but perhaps it was a crossroads. The New York Knicks were trailing 2-1 in the first-round series against the pesky upstart Atlanta Hawks .
The Hawks had proved they were uniquely qualified to handle the Knicks' offense with Jalen Brunson as its fulcrum, employing switchable defenders who had no problem selling out against New York's undersized captain and top scorer. After all, the Hawks hadn't needed to worry about much else through the series' first three games.
But Knicks coach Mike Brown, who had spent virtually all of his first season at the helm in New York wrestling with how to best use Brunson's most decorated teammate, Karl-Anthony Towns , was about to deliver a message that would turn the squad into a playoff juggernaut. In the team's film session on the day between Games 3 and 4 in Atlanta, things got real.
Brown is soft-spoken when speaking publicly about his players, but film sessions are often autopsies in which unspoken truths are laid bare and accountability is demanded. And during one moment on that late-April day in Atlanta, Brown looked to Towns.
The film had just shown a play from Game 3 in which Towns was supposed to screen for Brunson but stood in the corner instead. Brown called him out.
"You want the ball? What are you doing here?" a source with knowledge of the film session told ESPN.
Whether it was a watershed moment or a last-ditch effort from Brown to revive a Knicks season nearing its brink, that film session birthed the machine that has become the team's playoff offense, which has powered seven consecutive wins heading into Tuesday's Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers ( 8 p.m. ET, ESPN ).
It began with a demolition of the Hawks. The Knicks closed them out in Game 6 with a 59-point drubbing.
"In a way, it felt like [Brown] saying, 'Screw it, I'm going to do things my way,'" one Knicks player told ESPN of the style change. Going down 3-1 in the first round -- after Knicks owner James Dolan shared his NBA Finals expectation in January -- would've been disastrous.
Panic, especially in the cauldron of New York City and Madison Square Garden, surely would have set in. "The Atlanta Hawks made us better," Brown said after the series.
For Brown, necessity sparked innovation. He retooled the offense on the fly, adding facets of the now-legendary Golden State Warriors movement philosophy implemented by coach Steve Kerr.
Brown saw plenty of it as a Warriors assistant from 2016 to 2022. As a result, New York's most recent wins have been enormous, with a point differential of plus-24.5 during the franchise-record playoff winning streak.
The team's offensive rating during the streak (130.5 points per 100 possessions) is the best among 2026 playoff teams, and it's shooting 60% from the field and nearly 40% from 3-point range -- all well above its season averages. The shift didn't exactly come out of nowhere.
"We've had it," Brunson said, as Brown used the sparse practice time during the regular season to put a secret weapon in place: In case of emergency, unlock Point KAT. AFTER GAME 4 in Atlanta, there was no indication the Knicks' offensive shift was much more than a one-game reprieve.
Towns' triple-double that night was just his second of the season, and there wasn't much statistical evidence to support a move to a full-time point-center role. Towns is one of the best shooting big men in NBA history, but he is also a skilled passer and wears No.
32 because Magic Johnson is his idol. In that Game 4 win, Towns found OG Anunoby for six of his 10 assists, and it was infectious.
When Towns drew two defenders driving to the basket, he made easy passes for 3-point shots. When the 7-footer peered over smaller defenders from the top of the key, he could easily locate cutters coming off screens.
And during the Knicks' current run, his averages have looked like he has played point-center his entire career: 15.7 points, 9.6 rebounds and 8.0 assists on 60% shooting in just 26.3 minutes. "He's been a big inspiration in my life, and to be able to have this moment is great," Towns said afterward, referencing Johnson, who is considered by many to be the greatest point guard of all time.
"Like Magic, I always talk about impact and winning, and to be able to amplify my teammates is one of the greatest honors." The Knicks looked more like Kerr's Warriors than the Showtime Lakers, but Towns' teammates seemed to get a jolt of energy from his performance.