7 Biggest Threats to the Celtics' Chances to Repeat as NBA Champions

3. New York Knicks

This is who you probably came to read about. After finishing with their best record in over a decade, the Knicks entered the postseason surging with what felt like an all-time confidence.

Jalen Brunson had a career season, averaging career highs in points (28.7) and assists (6.7), while finishing fifth in MVP, Most Improved Player, and Clutch Player of the Year voting. Halfway through the season, they acquired lockdown defender OG Anunoby from Toronto, who averaged a block per game after the trade.

What was perhaps the scariest aspect of the Knicks heading into the postseason was their momentum and belief in themselves. This was a confident group with their city behind them and a hunger to live up to expectations. After a grueling first-round win against Philadelphia, injuries proved to be their undoing against Indiana.

The front office saw the potential of a healthy powerhouse and decided to have a far more aggressive off-season than usual. In a stunning move, the Knicks acquired one of the best centers in the game, Karl Anthony-Towns in the biggest trade of the offseason. Towns was coming off of an All-Star season in which he averaged 21.8 points per game and had his deepest playoff run. They also added Brunson and Josh Hart's former Villanova teammate Mikal Bridges, another great defender who averaged just shy of 20 points last season.

While DiVincenzo and Randle were major contributors to the latest postseason run, Towns and Bridges are expected to be major upgrades. For these reasons, New York is considered to be the biggest challenger to Boston's reign in the East. Celtics critics are quick to point out that they did not face any top-caliber opponents at full strength in the Eastern Conference playoffs, and on paper, the Knicks appear to have the talent to pose a threat.

The problem for the Knicks is that the games aren't played on paper. Teams that undergo as much roster turnover as they have in such a short amount of time often struggle to find a firm team identity with established individual roles. Four of the Knicks' top five scorers from the 2023-24 season are no longer on the team. While they have certainly had an influx of talent to make up for their departures, it still takes time for new arrivals to adjust to a new system (see Lillard in Milwaukee).

Out of any Eastern team, the Knicks come the closest to matching the talent of the Celtics but Boston is still more skilled, experienced, and cohesive.