For some reason, it is widely believed and peddled that the New York Knicks have had one of the easier roads to the 2026 NBA Finals compared to the vast majority of this year's playoff contenders.
In truth, however, this narrative actually should be directed at the San Antonio Spurs.
Yes, it's easy to say that the Western Conference has more challenging opponents. After all, eight of the last 12 NBA Champions have come from said conference.
However, San Antonio never really saw any real threats throughout this year's postseason run -- not any in full force, that is.
Spurs went on so-called easy playoff journey everyone thinks Knicks did
After taking down the incredibly inexperienced and, simply put, far inferior (talent-wise) Trail Blazers in round one, the Spurs found themselves facing the Timberwolves and Thunder, respectively, in their next two series.
Though on the surface, the idea that they played against both last year's Western Conference runner-up and the defending champions in back-to-back rounds may sound incredibly daunting, it's important to understand what versions of these should-be juggernauts they actually saw.
In the semifinals, Minnesota played with a clearly limited Anthony Edwards, who was trying to work through a left knee hyperextension and a bone bruise. The superstar was so hobbled, he even found himself coming off the pine for two of their six matchups.
After that, Victor Wembanyama and company saw an injury-ravaged Oklahoma City squad that, for the majority of the conference finals, was playing without two of their biggest contributors in All-NBA forward Jalen Williams (hamstring) and rising star sophomore Ajay Mitchell (calf).
Even with this clear advantage, it still took San Antonio seven games to punch their ticket to the title round.
A major talking point often being used against the Knicks this postseason is that they didn't end up facing any of the higher-seeded teams in their own conference.
For virtually the entire season, the belief was that the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics, specifically, were the two teams New York should fear in a seven-game series.
In the end, they wound up avoiding both.
To some, this proved to be a lucky turn of events for the Knicks, as they dodged a date with these perceived threats.
However, though they didn't play either Boston or Detroit, New York absolutely obliterated the teams that did in Philadelphia and Cleveland, respectively.
With this in mind, it seems a bit odd that the Knicks' success is being downplayed for not playing the Pistons and Celtics, and are seen as having an easy path to the Finals as a result, even though they swept the two clubs that not only proved better than these opponents, but also directly prevented such matchups from happening.
Simply put, the road the Knicks took during this year's playoff run has by no means been easy -- they just made it look so.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Follow