Mike Brown has Knicks ready for Eastern Conference Finals

GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Mike Brown was hired for this moment. The New York Knicks already had a coach who could take them to the Eastern Conference finals — and they fired him immediately after. Whoever replaced Tom Thibodeau would do so knowing he was inheriting a seat that was already warm, taking an undeniable win-now job where the only way he could demonstrate he made the team better was by reaching the NBA Finals. The pressure grew even more during the season, when the owner said he believed the Knicks should play for the title. The expectations were clear, though Brown never needed to have them explained. "People have talked about a mandate," Brown said recently. "Like, I'm coaching to win, so it doesn't matter what others say. I'm disappointed if we're not in the finals and having a chance to win it." He has led the Knicks back to the conference finals, where they will play either Detroit or Cleveland. They were two losses from going home in the first round in what could have been a flop worthy of a firing. Instead, he changed some things, stuck with others, and the Knicks have reeled off seven straight wins, mostly in convincing fashion. "He's done a great job of adjusting our team to give us the best chance to win," center Karl-Anthony Towns said, "and the spot we're in now is because of his courage and the trust to change what we were doing and put us in a better position." Brown's résumé was certainly worthy of the job. He's a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, the latter as the first unanimous winner in 2023 after leading the Sacramento Kings to their first playoff appearance since 2006, ending what was the longest active drought in North American pro sports. But there was going to be skepticism with any hire, in part because many people weren't sure Thibodeau should've even been fired. The Knicks won just one playoff series between 2001 and his hiring in 2020, and he brought them to the postseason four times in five years, culminating last season with their first conference finals appearance in 25 years. Yet the Knicks wanted a coach with a different style. Someone who would be the boss without being bossy. Someone who would make decisions about the team without the feeling that only he got to decide. Brown gives everyone from the front office to the players a say. "He's always wanted to have open dialogue since day one," captain Jalen Brunson said. "And obviously he's still the coach and he's going to make the decisions and everything. But I mean, we give our opinions, and whether they're good or bad opinions, they're talked about and they're decided on later." Brown, of course, makes the final call. And the ones he made when the Knicks faced their only adversity thus far in the postseason clearly turned out right. Mikal Bridges was off to a terrible start against Atlanta, and after he was scoreless in just 21 minutes in Game 3, there were cries for Brown to bench the guard who had started every game in his two seasons with the Knicks. Brown stayed the course, and there's no sitting Bridges down now. After scoring 24 points in the Game 6 finisher against the Hawks, he averaged 17.5 points on nearly 64% shooting in the sweep of Philadelphia, all while leading the defensive effort against 76ers star guard Tyrese Maxey. The other decision was to have Brunson, his All-Star point guard, initiate less of the offense. Instead, the Knicks have run more by positioning Towns up high and letting him find cutters. His passing has opened up more space on the floor for Brunson and others to find easier shots. Again, there was discussion before the decision. But, perhaps showing the players' belief in Brown, it was apparently a short one. "The dialogue was: 'OK, let's do it,'" Brunson said. Brown led the Knicks to a 53-29 record, their best since 2012-13. Yet there were stretches of mediocrity after a strong start, and a distant third-place finish in the East despite a lineup headlined by two All-Stars felt underwhelming. Brown responded by saying teams need to go through rocky times. "He doesn't listen to the outside noise and he doesn't let that affect him," forward Josh Hart said. Brown said that's easy to do. He worked on title-winning teams under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio and Steve Kerr with Golden State, and he remembers people complaining about them. "So shoot, people can talk about Mike Brown for sure," Brown said. "But it's my job to ignore the noise and it's easy for me to do that because the pressure that I put on myself, that the team puts on itself, to be great or to try to be the best team in the league doesn't even match up with what everybody else says throughout the course of the year." Brown said his only focus all season has been winning a championship. The way his Knicks are playing now, there's definitely a chance. "The mandate and all that other stuff, like, that's what I expect," Brown said. "That's what I want to do and hopefully it can happen, but who knows."