The New York Knicks swept through two rounds of the 2026 NBA playoffs and are now sitting on the couch, rested, while Detroit and Cleveland figure out who’s next. The wait may be frustrating, but the latest betting numbers suggest the market is not worried.
According to Fox Sports, the Knicks entered this week as heavy favorites to come out of the East. “Entering Tuesday, the Knicks are a -175 favorite at the DraftKings Sportsbook to represent the East in the finals. The Pistons have the second-best odds at +290, while the Cavs sit in a distant third at +500.”
The difference between the Knicks and the next closest team is huge. The Pistons are currently the first seed in the Eastern Conference and the Cavaliers have just leveled their series 2-2, however, both teams are nowhere near New York in terms of market. Such a gap is a clear indication of how overpowering this team has been looking during the first two rounds.
The Knicks have just won seven consecutive playoff games, four of which against Philadelphia 76ers in a series sweep.
During the sweep, they achieved the feat of tying the all-time NBA playoff record with 25 three-pointers in a game, and throughout the 10 playoff games, there has been no team that holds a better plus-minus than that of New York’s plus-194.
That is an additional 24 points from the previous record, which was held by the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors.
As conference finals nears, the puzzle now is who will New York be up against?
Pistons or Cavaliers: Who Do the Knicks Want in the ECF?
The Pistons-Cavaliers series is tied 2-2, and the outcome will decide a lot for New York, starting with home-court advantage. If Detroit moves forward, the Knicks will be starting away. If Cleveland wins, New York will get the first two games at Madison Square Garden.
The regular season results suggest that Cleveland is the better match-up.
Detroit swept the Knicks 3-0, with the closest loss coming by 15 points. Against Cleveland, New York went 2-1. However, the Pistons don’t exactly seem like a No. 1 seed right now, as they barely got out of the first round and are now being very much challenged by a No. 4 seed Cavaliers team.
This really complicates things. Cleveland is a threat when playing at home and Mitchell is on fire right now. If Detroit moves on, they will have home-court advantage, and that would be a big problem because they won 31-9 at home in the regular season. Both matchups have their issues, however, when it comes to home-court advantage only, Cleveland is a less difficult opponent.
OG Anunoby Expected to Be Ready for Game 1 of Conference Finals
GettyKnicks forward OG Anunoby
Anunoby strained his right hamstring late in Game 2 against the 76ers and missed Games 3 and 4. The Knicks swept anyway, but the bigger concern was always the conference finals. Now, some good news has arrived on that front.
Anunoby will likely be ready for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, with no minute restriction expected.
That matters a lot. Before going down, Anunoby was averaging 21 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.1 blocks per game, shooting 63.8% from the field and 59.4% from three.
In last year’s first-round playoff series against Detroit, Anunoby averaged 17.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game. Cade Cunningham was limited to 4-of-9 shooting in the game where OG was guarding him most closely. Detroit has not forgotten that, and neither has New York.
The Knicks are four wins from the NBA Finals, the market already sees them as the team most likely to get there, and their best two-way player looks set to return. It is hard to ask for much more than that.
Knicks Receive Good News Before Conference Finals