OF THE NEW YORK KNICKS' 13 consecutive NBA playoff wins, the eighth might provide a sense of justification. Not for the blockbuster roster moves that have the franchise two wins from its first championship in 53 years, but for a tactical shift that perhaps came a few years late.
The Knicks had entered Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals winning three straight games to oust the Atlanta Hawks in the first round and dominating the underdog Philadelphia 76ers via a conference semifinals sweep. But after the first 40 minutes inside Madison Square Garden on May 19, New York found itself trailing the Cleveland Cavaliers by 22 points.
Naturally, that's when Jalen Brunson went to work, scoring 15 of his game-high 38 points in the final 7:39 with much of the damage coming against Cavs guard James Harden. And, behind Brunson's offensive attack and some timely stinginess by New York's defense, one of the greatest rallies in playoff history was nearly complete. With under one minute remaining, the Knicks had cut the deficit to just three points.
They came not from Brunson, New York's captain and former Clutch Player of the Year. Not from Karl-Anthony Towns, its All-Star center and one of the best shooting bigs in the league. Not from Mikal Bridges or OG Anunoby, two 3-and-D wings the franchise traded a lineup's worth of players and draft picks to acquire.
No, the 3-pointer that tied the game at 99-99 with 45 seconds remaining in regulation left the fingertips of reserve guard Landry Shamet, a late training camp signing on a non-guaranteed deal -- and who would have likely watched from the bench in such a critical moment a season ago.
The 29-year-old journeyman's expanded role was one of the final pieces to the puzzle that New York couldn't solve in its previous two playoffs under former coach Tom Thibodeau, when the Knicks starters were run ragged throughout stalled trips to the conference semifinals in 2024 and East finals in 2025.
But under coach Mike Brown this season, New York has leaned on its bench more than it ever did with Thibodeau. That's especially true in this playoff run, which is headed back to MSG for Monday's Game 3 of the Finals against the San Antonio Spurs (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
Up and down the Knicks bench is evidence of a pie being divided more evenly: Beyond Shamet's contributions, guard Miles McBride has averaged career highs in minutes, scoring and 3-point percentage. Big man Mitchell Robinson has stayed upright after being carefully managed all season and is now being deployed against Victor Wembanyama in clutch time. Guard Jose Alvarado, a trade deadline acquisition, has provided his usual defensive annoyance and energy.
"Everybody understands what our standard is," Brown said in December. "It's about sacrifice."
And the Knicks needed all season to get it right.
WHEN BROWN REPLACED the popular but ultimately stubborn Thibodeau, there was skepticism of his ability to handle the massive expectations. Not just to reach the franchise's first Finals since 1999, but also the preferred method:
Ensure the starters don't wear down along the way.
In 2024-25, the Knicks' five most-used four-man lineups -- each featured a variation of Brunson, Towns, Anunoby, Bridges and Josh Hart -- had all eclipsed 1,000 minutes played. The high mark was over 1,300 minutes, the equivalent of a third of an NBA regular season.
This year, only one four-man unit crossed the 900-minute mark. (Lineups featuring Robinson, Anunoby, Bridges and Brunson were a plus-19.6 points per 100 possessions, thanks in large part to Robinson's offensive rebounds and "sprays," Brown's term for getting in the paint and kicking out to shooters.
"In terms of the minutes, it's a philosophy I had," Brown said last week. "One of the many things I learned from Pop and Steve [Kerr]. Steve was really good at trying to play a lot of different guys. Not only that, a guy that hadn't been in the rotation for a while, one game [a coach] might throw him out there as a starter. That kept guys engaged or on their toes."
Except for Brunson, the Knicks stars have all seen their minutes scaled back this season, a culture shift featuring plenty of early challenges. One of the biggest came after Hart was benched in the fourth quarter for multiple games in November. "I've never been benched twice in the fourth quarter," Hart said within earshot of reporters on his way out of the home locker room.
Hart, accustomed to heavy minutes under Thibodeau, was now being asked to take a considerable trim in playing time under a new coach.
"I definitely didn't see the bigger picture," Hart said last week. "I went home and I'm like, 'Damn, am I ass? Do I suck as a basketball player?' There were a lot of those moments. Whenever your minutes go down or you get benched, you have that thought process."
After leading the league at 37.6 minutes per game last season, Hart is down to 30.2, his fewest with the Knicks. But the 31-year-old swingman has immersed himself in the team because he saw the quality around him, and saw everybody else doing it. He and Brown had their clashes this season, with a few moments of candor from Brown revealing shouting matches that bordered on passionate disrespect, but ended at the door when it was over.
Getting players such as Hart and Towns -- early in the regular season, the Knicks big man's numbers were down as he adjusted to a revised role -- to buy in was just as critical as developing the bench itself. The competitive tension that naturally exists between starters and reserves could've been made worse if things weren't addressed or handled delicately.
"I actually hoped there would be some big, rocky times or adverse times because you have to try to fight through them as an organization, not just as a team," Brown said. "To see if everybody can stay connected."
ROBINSON HAS OCCUPIED a special place in the league. His limitations as a scorer and free throw shooter make him a target for the often-ghastly "Hack-A" strategy utilized by both Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson and San Antonio's Mitch Johnson in these playoffs.
And Robinson has struggled to stay healthy, having played just 48 games in the two seasons before Brown's arrival. But his impact cannot be overstated, as one of the best offensive rebounders per minute in NBA history (per 36, Robinson led the league this season at 16.1). And with Towns' propensity for foul trouble, the Knicks need Robinson's skill set perhaps more than any other franchise.
In this season alone, Robinson had 16 games of at least six offensive rebounds and grabbed 10 in the Knicks' NBA Cup win over San Antonio. Knowing how valuable he was, Brown and the training staff generated a plan that kept his minutes down to mitigate the chance of injury but enough ramp-up so that he could be called upon in critical situations. Robinson, at 19.6 minutes per game, played in 60 for the first time since 2021-22.
On Christmas Day against Cleveland, in what turned out to be a bit of foreshadowing, Robinson didn't score a point, but he helped power a late comeback with four offensive rebounds in less than five minutes -- each led to an open look from 3.
The Knicks knocked down two of them en route to a 16-point comeback and eventual 126-124 win, showing they're never truly out of a game when every reserve is capable of taking a starring role. Even point guard Tyler Kolek, who has since slid down in the rotation with everyone healthy, hit four 3s in the fourth quarter and played critical defense on Cleveland's Darius Garland.
"Our bench was fantastic. Our bench won the game for us," Brown said after the win. "KAT sat most of the fourth but was still into the game. He was into it mentally because Mitch was balling.
"There's a belief about the process and more importantly, each other. When you feel that type of belief from your peers, the sky's the limit."
UPON TAKING THE Knicks job this past July, Brown lobbied for team president Leon Rose to re-sign Shamet, then an unrestricted free agent after playing for New York on a one-year minimum deal.
"I thought Landry could be impactful," Brown said. "He signed late because his agent convinced him to do that. Hopefully it won't happen going forward.
"I said, 'Hey, I want you here. I'm sorry about the way the circumstances are contractually. I have nothing to do [with] that. I believe you can help us on both ends of the floor.'"
The Knicks, who signed Shamet to another one-year minimum deal in September, likely don't make this run without him nestled quietly amid the team's impeccable ball movement. And when it swings to him, Shamet lets it fly without hesitation. He flashed that mindset during NBA Cup group play, when he stepped in for an injured Anunoby and shredded the Miami Heat for a career-high 36 points.
He and the Knicks' bench brigade have been on full display in these NBA Finals, too. After Shamet went 11-for-12 from 3 in the conference finals, he already has six makes against the Spurs amidst a boost in minutes. McBride hit a big triple of his own when the Spurs were beginning to charge back in Game 2.
And then there was Robinson. Earlier in Game 2, he'd been intentionally fouled and was dealing with the broken pinkie in his right shooting hand that required surgery just days before the Finals. But in guarding Wembanyama, none of that mattered.
He pushed the Spurs big man out near the 3-point line and forced a miss on a long 2-pointer that would have given the Spurs the lead with under 35 seconds remaining. And on the final possession, Robinson correctly read Wembanyama slipping the screen and rushed to contest a 20-foot jumper that would have tied the series.
KNICKS GET THE HUGE DEFENSIVE STOP TO WIN GAME 2 🚨
— NBA (@NBA) June 6, 2026
THEY'VE WON 13 STRAIGHT AND LEAD THE NBA FINALS, 2-0 🚨 pic.twitter.com/5V67qIcT7F
Robinson and Brown are fans of country music, which Brown partially credits for Robinson's "chill vibe" when he's sometimes pulled out of a game after 30 seconds. "He got a stop; we sat him down. We threw him out there again, and he was the same. He just went and did his job," Brown said.
All the pieces, fitting together like never before, have the Knicks two wins from the title. But not before what Brown has routinely called "a season of sacrifice."
"We're here for a reason, we want to compete and contribute," Shamet said. "At the end of the day, wins speak much louder than any of that other stuff. That's what we all ultimately want."