Kristian Winfield: Wounded Eastern Conference puts Knicks at center of power vacuum

NEW YORK — Tyrese Haliburton. Jayson Tatum. Damian Lillard.

Injuries to three Eastern Conference cornerstones — each sidelined by the harshest of setbacks: a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in the playoffs — have reshaped the landscape, removing some of the biggest obstacles between the New York Knicks and their first NBA Finals appearance in 25 years.

Haliburton, the engine behind Indiana’s improbable NBA Finals run, ruptured his Achilles in the first quarter of Game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. It was a devastating scene — and a decisive turning point in the Pacers’ 103-91 season-ending loss.

Just weeks earlier, Tatum and Lillard each endured their own brutal injuries, Tatum’s coming at Madison Square Garden in the second round against the Knicks, and Lillard returning from a lengthy absence due to blood clots, only to go down in the first round with an Achilles injury.

Three franchise players. Three ruptured Achilles tendons. Three contenders — all now left searching for answers.

When Kevin Durant tore his Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, he missed the entire 2020 season after signing with the Brooklyn Nets. He returned a year later, sharper than ever — averaging more points on better efficiency than he did in Golden State — and set a new precedent for modern Achilles recoveries.

But even with Durant’s resurgence as a blueprint, the expectation is caution. Tatum, Haliburton, and Lillard could all sit out the entire 2025-26 season. If they do, the Eastern Conference is more open than it’s been in decades — and the Knicks are right at the center of the power vacuum, because a team fresh off its most successful season this century now has had its familiar obstacles cleared from the road.

The Tatum injury sent Boston’s dynastic rise into a screeching halt. Milwaukee is once again stuck reconfiguring life around Giannis Antetokounmpo without a healthy co-star. And Indiana, the reigning conference champs, are unlikely to repeat without Haliburton — their head of the offensive snake.

That brutal truth wasn’t lost on the Orlando Magic. Even before Haliburton went down, the Magic pushed their chips in — sending Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony and four first-round picks to Memphis for Desmond Bane. Bane’s never been an All-Star, but he gives Orlando the perimeter scoring it lacked and a cleaner path to contention in the wide-open East.

The Magic are coming. So are the Cavaliers, who held the No. 1 seed before injuries to Darius Garland, De’Andre Hunter and Evan Mobley cost them in Round 2 against the Pacers. The Detroit Pistons are young, improving and were missing both Jaden Ivey and Isaiah Stewart in their first-round loss to the Knicks. And the Philadelphia 76ers will always loom as long as Joel Embiid is healthy — a massive “if” given he’s appeared in only 58 games over the last two seasons.

As for the Knicks? Realistically, the Knicks should be next in line, right with the Cavaliers. New York is Las Vegas’ betting favorite to come out of the East next season.

But the Knicks reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000, then fired the head coach responsible for authoring the playoff run.

Priority A at Madison Square Garden is finding a Tom Thibodeau replacement capable of raising the ceiling for a talented Knicks roster. Priority B has to be mimicking what worked for the two teams competing in the NBA Finals: adding the kind of quality depth needed to sustain an 82-game regular season plus a deep playoff run without overloading the starting five. And Priority C should be installing offensive and defensive schemes that play to the roster’s strengths while hiding their weaknesses. The Knicks were a predictable offensive team with glaring shortcomings on the defensive end.

And yet they still came two wins away from the NBA Finals. With Tatum, Haliburton and Lillard on the injury report for the foreseeable future, the Knicks are primed to punch through.

The Pacers, who ended two straight Knicks postseason runs, just lost their All-Star point guard. Boston is deep into the second apron and without Tatum could entertain cost-cutting moves. Lillard’s injury leaves Milwaukee’s window cracked, if not closed — and Antetokounmpo’s loyalty will once again be tested if the roster stalls around him.

Meanwhile, the Knicks enter the offseason intact. Karl-Anthony Towns is recovering from a knee injury, but no major pieces are compromised. If the front office so chooses, it can have the entire core rotation of Towns, Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, Mitchell Robinson, Josh Hart and Miles McBride back in orange and blue next season. That continuity matters, because the Pacers and Celtics both spent several years trying with the same core before ultimately breaking through to the NBA Finals.

The East, however, no longer runs through Boston or Indiana. Injuries have forced a detour on the Eastern Conference roads to the NBA Finals.

And New York is fighting to make sure that route runs straight through The Garden. Unfortunate Achilles injuries sidelined three

With Tatum, Lillard and Haliburton all sidelined, the East hasn’t been this wide-open in years — and the Knicks know it.

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