Towns and Randall exchanged their bosses, and they were the NBA version of the wrong sedan chair and married the right man!

NBA Playoff Eastern Conference Semi-finals G6 staged a one-sided showdown. The Knicks defeated the Celtics 119-81 at home, completing a counterattack of the following scores 4-2, and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals strongly.

This defeat not only made the Celtic generals lose face, but also continued the defending champion's "second round curse" to the seventh season, becoming a microcosm of the dramatic changes in the league's competitive landscape.

The Knicks and the Timberwolves entered the division finals one after another, which further increased the value of the deal between Towns and Randall's swaps in the offseason.

1. Core dull fire and lineup hidden dangers: an intuitive portrayal of the Celtics' defeat

From the first quarter to the "power cut off", the Celtics were suppressed by the Knicks throughout the game, and the score difference once widened to more than 40 points.

The collective downturn of the core players became the key to the defeat: Jaylen Brown scored only 20 points on 8 of 20 shots, accompanied by 7 turnovers and 6 fouls, plus and negative value-28 became a drag on the court, and was criticized by US netizens for "Has data been available but unable to lead the team to win", "It can be called the best FMVP in history", "Last year's FMVP trophy should have belonged to Tatum".

Holiday scored only 4 points on 1 of 8 shots, with a weak presence on both ends of offense and defense;

Derek White made 3 of 11 shots and 2 of 8 three-pointers, with the worst value of -45 in the whole game;

Porzingis played in the bench for 11 minutes due to the virus and scored only 4 points, completely failing to fulfill the expectations of the inside pillar.

When a top team with 61 wins and 21 losses in the regular season delivered such an answer in the second round of the playoffs, the hidden dangers of key players' weak resistance to stress can no longer be concealed.

2. The second round of the defending champion "Life and Death Tribulation"

With the Celtics eliminated, the "second round curse" of the defending champion in the NBA has come true again - since the Warriors in 2018, the defending champions in seven seasons have failed to break through the second round of the playoffs.

From the Raptors losing to the Celtics in the second round in 2020, to the Nuggets losing to the Timberwolves in 2024, to the Celtics’ failure in the Knicks, behind this phenomenon is the cruelty of league competition.

When the team stands at the top, the tactical system will be dismantled and studied by the opponent. The locked salary space will lead to limited lineup adjustments. The age and injury risks of core players make the road to defending the title even more difficult.

As commentator Zeng Lingxu said: "It is too difficult for the NBA to win in a row."

3. Psychological shackles and tactical dilemma: Deep contradictions in the Celtics

After the game, Celtics coach Mazula rarely admitted the psychological barrier: "This is obviously a problem we need to study throughout the summer."

Born the halo of "the defending champion", the team's mentality changed from "the impacter" to "the defender", and the pressure quietly changed the rhythm of the game.

The "Double Tanhua + Space-type Insider" mode that won the championship last season was completely cracked by the Knicks' "defense swap + contraction" strategy this season, and the hidden danger of failing to adjust the lineup in time during the offseason broke out in this game.

Tatum's injury became the last straw that broke the camel's back, making the Celtics even worse.

4. The playoffs of the regular season strongman, Waterloo,

Celtics are not the only team to "regular season dragons, playoff bugs".

The three teams with 60+ wins this season are collectively in trouble: the Thunder and the Nuggets are in tiebreak, the Cavaliers are swept by the Pacers in the first round, and the Celtics become the earliest 60-win team to be eliminated.

This reveals a cruel reality: the dominance of the regular season may not necessarily translate into playoff competitiveness.

When the opponent has enough time to study tactics and deploy targetedly, teams that rely on a single play often find it difficult to go far.

vs. Mazula's three-year trajectory of coaching - from the Eastern Conference Finals to winning the championship and then to the second round of elimination, this gap further highlights the particularity of the playoff stage.

5. Civilian duels and league pattern reshaping

18 commentators predicted that the Celtics would be eliminated. The Knicks and the Pacers, two teams ranked third and fourth in the regular season, met in the Eastern Conference Finals, and the NBA ushered in a new era of "star-donating flavor".

There is no monopoly of super giants and no absolute favorites to win the championship. Every team may stand out with tactical innovation or lineup adaptability.

As the Clippers said, "This is an incredible playoffs, and everyone's predictions are disappointed."

This subversion is not only a regret for the Celtics, but also a manifestation of the vitality of the league - you will never know what the result will be until the last moment.

For the Celtics, this loss was a pain, but it could also be an opportunity for rebirth.

Removed the halo of the "defending champion", they need to face the lineup shortcomings: has the upper limit of the Double Tanhua reached its peak? How to strengthen the salary space when locking it? These issues will determine the future direction of the Celtics.

And for the entire NBA, the Celtics' exit once again confirms a truth: in a fiercely competitive league, standing still means retreating.

When the cheers of Madison Square Garden sounded, the Knicks wrote the legend of reversal with resilience, and the reflection and change belonging to the Celtics had just begun.