After a closely contested 116-113 victory over the Pistons tonight, the Knicks were able to make it out of the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs. But they’re not out of the woods yet. This win has now put them on a collision course with the reigning champions, the Boston Celtics. And Jalen Brunson has a concern heading into this series. Despite his star player’s worries, head coach Tom Thibodeau seems to be playing this one close to the chest.

During the post-game press conference, a reporter asked Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges about what they’d learned from this series against the Pistons. After all, it ended up being harder for the Knicks than expected. But as difficult as the Pistons were, Jalen believes their upcoming series is different and tougher. And it’s all down to one key difference between the two teams.

“I don’t want to say it’s going to be different, but obviously we’re playing against the defending champs next time. So, it’s going to be a lot different playing this team that we just played. Not, I’m not discrediting them at all, but they, they have experience. The Celtics have experience,” said Brunson. And this is something his head coach concurs with. The Celtics have a lot of playoffs experience, and that makes them dangerous.

But Thibs was tight-lipped about his plan for handling the Celtics in their upcoming series. “Obviously, we’ll be doing a lot of work in the next couple days. But our assistants and our advanced guys have been working on it for a long time. So, uh, then we have to get our team in and we have some days for recovery and preparation,” said Thibs.

But he also reiterated the danger that Jayson Tatum and Co. pose. “They’re the defending champion. So we know that we’re gonna have to be at our best,” said the Knicks’ head coach.

But what can we expect from this upcoming second-round clash of titans? Let’s take a peek!

What can Jalen Brunson and Co. expect in a series against the Celtics?

This series between the two East Coast giants is actually their 17th meeting in the postseason. Only the Celtics and the Sixers have faced each other more times in the Playoffs. That said, the previous meetings between these franchises mean little heading into this one. After all, the last time they met was all the way back in 2013!

Now, aside from what Brunson and Thibs discussed, there are a couple of things you should know heading into the second round. Starting with the Celtics, their biggest concern will be Jrue Holiday and his fitness. After straining his right hamstring, Joe Mazzulla revealed that his status remains day-to-day. Now, the Celtics are no slouches even with him missing, they showed it against the Orlando Magic in round 1. However, the reigning champions will know that the Knicks are on a different level. Without their best defender, they’ll have a tough time keeping Jalen Brunson quiet on the perimeter.

Moving on to the Knicks. They need to have one thing on their minds — winning possession. To do that, they’ll need to grab more offensive boards and force more turnovers. And the key to all of that? Josh Hart. His hustles are legendary, and he grabs loose balls like a bloodhound playing fetch. And considering the Celtics will likely guard him with their bigs, he has a golden opportunity if he can get the ball frequently. Hart will have more open looks at the basket since the Celtics’ bigs will prefer guarding the paint. But he’ll need to improve upon his shooting numbers if the Knicks are to stand a chance,

All in all, despite Thibs’ reticence over revealing his game plan against the Celtics, the keys to victory for both teams are quite apparent. But when teams that are this elite face off against each other, the winner usually ends up being a coin toss. So, we don’t expect this series to be any different!