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When the loyal fans chant “De-fense!” in the ecstatic grip of a Knicks playoff game and the noise bounces off Madison Square Garden’s pinwheel ceiling, the years fall away.
It is 2025, and the Knicks are improbably within one win of knocking off the defending champion Celtics and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.
They travel to Boston on Wednesday night for a potential Game 5 clincher (7 p.m. ET, TNT).
The Celtics will be without superstar Jayson Tatum, who underwent season-ending surgery on a torn right Achilles tendon Tuesday. The Knicks will be led into Beantown by a laser-focused Jalen Brunson, who’s never met a laurel he refused to rest on.