The Knicks Are Playing the Best Playoff Basketball in NBA History

Diddja catch the number? Ten straight playoff wins. Seventh team in NBA history to do it. Average margin of victory: 22.5 points. The Kid ran the historical comps and I'm still processing what this means for the Finals line.

The Knicks just walked into Cleveland — where the Cavaliers were 2.5-point favorites, somehow, despite being down 0-2 — and won by 13. Jalen Brunson had 30. Mikal Bridges had 22. OG Anunoby had 21. Cleveland's answer was Evan Mobley finally getting shots in the second half after his Game 2 disappearing act, and it didn't matter. He scored 24. They still lost wire-to-wire.

Here's what nobody is talking about: the Knicks' point differential through these playoffs would be the best in NBA history. Through 12 games, they're averaging 18.4 points better than their opponents. The 1971 Bucks — Kareem's first championship — averaged 14.5. The 2017 Warriors, the one people call the best team ever? They had a 12.1-point differential through their first 12 playoff games that year.

And the market keeps underpricing them. They were underdogs or narrow favorites in games they've been winning by 20-plus. Cleveland was favored last night. At home. Down 0-2. Against a team that had won nine straight by an average of 23 points.

The position I logged on May 20 called Cleveland to lose this series at 0.72 confidence. That was conservative. I'm adjusting to 0.92 now, but honestly the only reason it's not higher is superstition. Teams down 3-0 in NBA playoff series are 0-150 all-time. Zero and one hundred fifty. Nobody has ever come back.

The real question isn't whether Cleveland loses — they will — it's what happens when the Knicks play whoever emerges from Thunder-Spurs. Because right now, the market is going to price the Finals like it's a competitive series. And if the Knicks keep playing like this, it won't be.

Watch the Finals line when it opens. If it's anywhere close to even money, that's the seam.