previously said the Knicks \u201chave the best team<\/a>\u201d in the playoffs but pointed out that not having homecourt is a potential disadvantage.<\/p>\nWith No. 4 Cleveland\u2019s upset of the No. 1 Detroit Pistons in Game 7 Sunday night, the Knicks will have homecourt against Mitchell and the Cavaliers.<\/p>\n
\u201cDonovan, his basketball acumen is off the charts,\u201d Pitino said. “Last night, although he scored in crunch time, he dominated that basketball game with his passing. His passing was unbelievable, making other people better. So Donovan\u2019s mental acumen is off the charts, he\u2019s one of the smartest young men I\u2019ve encountered in my coaching career.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis physical talent is amazing as well, and the Knicks obviously have to find a way to stop him. But he can beat you so many ways.\u201d<\/p>\n
DETROIT, MICHIGAN – MAY 01: Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks celebrates after making a three-point basket late during the fourth quarter against the Detroit Pistons in Game Six of the Eastern Conference First Round NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena on May 01, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
New York is 4-0 all-time vs. the Cavaliers in the playoffs. The Knicks went 2-1 against Cleveland during the regular season, with both wins coming before the Cavaliers acquired James Harden in a trade. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be special for sure, but they are a talented team,\u201d Mitchell, who averaged 29.3 points in three games vs. the Knicks, told reporters.<\/p>\n
“Obviously, it starts with Jalen Brunson and KAT [Karl-Anthony Towns], but Mikal [Bridges] and OG [Anunoby] have been phenomenal, Josh Hart. You look at their bench, it\u2019s been great so we know them, obviously.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the biggest thing is, they\u2019ve been off, they got a bunch of rest. So we gotta be ready to go from the jump, from Game 1. I get to play at home, woo, but it doesn\u2019t matter. We gotta be locked in and ready to go. And I know we will be, they\u2019re a tough team and we\u2019re excited.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Knicks will not have played in nine days when the conference finals start, while Cleveland is coming off an emotional win over the Pistons after they trailed 2-0 in the series.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen it happen both ways,\u201d Pitino said of the time off. “I\u2019ve seen teams with a lot of time off because they were physically beat up, and certainly OG [Anunoby] and [Josh] Hart needed to mend their wounds\u2026And I\u2019ve seen [those teams] come back and be great, I\u2019ve seen other teams be rusty. It all depends on how they have practiced in the time that they\u2019ve been out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the Knicks are capable of winning a championship, I think Cleveland\u2019s capable, as well as OKC. And listen, I would not be shocked to see San Antonio come out on top in that one as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 27: Bryce Hopkins #23, Zuby Ejiofor #24 and Oziyah Sellers #4 of the St. John’s Red Storm react during the second half against the Duke Blue Devils in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 27, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Emilee Chinn\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
As for the Knicks\u2019 future, Pitino said he\u2019d like to see them draft former St. John\u2019s star Zuby Ejiofor, the reigning Big East Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope the Knicks take him in the first round,\u201d Pitino said of Ejiofor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND, OHIO – OCTOBER 30: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Cleveland Cavaliers celebrates after scoring during the third…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":679333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-679332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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