Sixers

The Knicks are Going to Win the NBA Finals and it’s the Boston Celtics’ Fault

By Matt Schultz

Published: Jun 12th, 2026 · 5:15 PM EDT

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We’re living in a worst-case scenario. The Knicks are going to win the NBA Finals. 

Never thought I’d type that sentence, but here I am. That’s just the way it is. This is it. It’s happening. The Spurs had plenty of chances to wrestle momentum away from New York in this series, but now they’re down 3-1, and the writing is on the wall: Barring a miraculous, historic comeback that’s only happened once in 79 years of NBA Finals, New York is going to raise the Larry O’Brien trophy, and all of us are going to have to watch Knicks fans act even more elated and insane that they currently are. 

It’s a bad situation. There’s a reason the entire basketball world without a dog in the fight has been rooting for the Spurs: it’s because Knicks fans are menaces. They’re a bunch of weirdo, violent, aggressive‌ guys over there, and the fact that they’re about to experience the absolute peak of sports ecstasy feels worse than merely unjust – it’s a disaster. And personally, I can’t help but want to find someone to blame here. Who let this happen? Who the hell could’ve allowed something this tragic to unfold? There must’ve been someone, somewhere, who could’ve prevented this nightmare. Who can we point the finger at? Who deserves the blame?

Easy. The Boston Celtics. 

The Celtics are the reason this is happening. All they had to do was beat the Sixers, and if they had, I truly believe they would’ve smoked the Knicks. The Celtics were the better team all year, and they matched up with New York the best out of any team in the East. Detroit was too young; Cleveland had James Harden; the Celtics were the veteran team who were supposed to uphold order. Jayson Tatum was back and playing well. Jaylen Brown just had the best year of his career and finished sixth in MVP voting.  They were stacked with long, rangy defenders. They had scoring off the bench. They had the Coach of the Year in Joe Mazzulla. They just won the Finals two years ago. They were the guardians at the gate. They were our last line of defense. They were supposed to keep Knicks fans from breaking containment… 

And they blew a 3-1 series lead in the first round against the Sixers – a perennially mediocre team led by a knee-less Joel Embiid, an injured Tyrese Maxey, and a rookie in V.J. Edgecombe. The Celtics couldn’t figure out Paul George. And now we’re in hell. 

Don’t get me wrong: As a Sixers fan, that series win over the Celtics meant the world to me. It was the gutsiest I’d ever seen a Sixers team play in my life. I’m on record as saying that if the Process Era ended after that Game 7 win, I’d call the whole thing a success. The Sixers beat the Celtics in the playoffs for the first time since 1982. I was on cloud nine. I was happy.

But I didn’t know how bad it’d be to watch the Knicks on the precipice of winning the Finals.

Knowing what I know now, if I had the choice, I would trade that Sixers/Celtics series win over for the Knicks to not be in the Finals. I hate the Celtics and I always will, but I’d rather see them win it all than these Knicks. At least it’s a known commodity. It’s brutal when Boston wins, sure, but it’s survivable. I know I can do it. We just did it in 2024. All that happened was Bill Simmons was annoying for a few weeks, then that was the end of it. But when the Knicks win it all – which could happen any day now – I’m not sure there will ever be an end to it. 

The Celtics blew it for everyone. This is all their fault. I will never forgive them for this…