Knicks guard Jalen Brunson speaks after the championship parade
The Knicks spent the spring making Philadelphia look ordinary. Philadelphia cannot be treated like the same opponent anymore.
LeBron James is headed to the 76ers, joining a roster that already has Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown and VJ Edgecombe. Philadelphia is no longer the same opponent the Knicks handled in the playoffs.
New York should not panic. The Knicks are the champions, and Jalen Brunson was the Finals MVP. They earned the right to believe their core can beat anybody in the East. But title defenses do not happen in a vacuum, and the Sixers just made the path meaner.
LeBron is 41, which means there are fair questions about how much he has left over an 82-game schedule. He is also LeBron James. He knows how to control a playoff game, and Philadelphia will not need him to carry every possession with Maxey, Brown and Embiid around him.
Jalen Brunson mural during the Knicks championship parade
A Jalen Brunson mural rolls through the Knicks championship parade. Credit: Brenden Willsch-Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
Knicks cannot count on last spring repeating itself
The Knicks swept the 76ers in the second round last season. That series does not disappear from the memory bank, but it also does not settle the next one. Philadelphia has added a player who changes the emotional temperature of every game and gives them another decision-maker late in the fourth quarter.
New York’s edge is familiarity. Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart know exactly what title basketball asks of them. There is no learning curve on that front.
The East just became a lot less comfortable
The 76ers need health from Embiid and need the new pieces to fit. Those are serious questions. The Knicks have questions too, especially at center and in their bench rotation.
Still, this is the kind of move champions have to take personally. The Knicks are no longer chasing the conference. Everyone else is chasing them, including a Philadelphia team that just added the biggest name possible.
Mentioned in this article: jalen brunson Knicks Lebron James NBA Eastern Conference philadelphia 76ers
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