New York Knicks Mike Vaccaro House money no longer on table for Knicks with pain of playoff failures as favorites lingering By Mike Vaccaro Published May 18, 2026, 12:05 a.m. ET Jalen Brunson reacts during the Knicks' April 28 game. Jason Szenes for the NY Post OK. Now we get to address the 8,000-pound neon pink elephant that sits in the dressing room with the Knicks, will travel with them on the team plane and will have its own room at the hotel in Cleveland, now that the other team has finally been identified thanks to the Cavaliers’ stunning 125-94 butchering of the Pistons in Detroit on Sunday night.
And here’s that neon pink elephant shining brightly:
The Knicks need to keep handling prosperity, the way they did in the last series against Philadelphia. They are significant favorites in these Eastern Conference finals thanks in large part to the way they’ve played their past seven games and also because across 82 regular-season games they were the No. 3 seed, the Cavs the No. 4.
The fact is, since this franchise began its rise out of the dust during the 2020-21 season — let’s call it the Rose-aissance, or maybe Leonpalooza — the Knicks have often done quite well when they’re us-against-the-world. We saw that in 2023, when they drubbed the Cavs in a gentleman’s sweep. We saw it last year when they stunned the Celtics in six, when everyone expected a one-way series the other way.
