The New York Knicks have knocked off the Boston Celtics to advance to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
And while former Mountaineer and Celtics' head coach Joe Mazzulla's dreams for back-to-back NBA Championships have been dashed with the series loss, another former Mountaineer has taken one step closer to earning his first NBA Championship as a player.
Miles "Deuce" McBride, who played for West Virginia from 2019-2021, plays a significant role in the Knicks' rotation, and stepped up in multiple games over the series to help lead the Knicks to an unlikely upset over the No. 2 seed and defending NBA champs.
McBride played the most minutes of any game in the series on Friday night, as he saw the floor for 32 minutes in Game Six. He played a big role in a massive second quarter for the Knicks, which saw them extend their lead from six points at the end of the first period to a 27-point lead at halftime.
Among McBride's highlight-reel plays in the second quarter were him chasing down a massive block midway through the quarter, and draining a buzzer-beater from behind-the-arc to lead the Knicks into the break. By the end of the night, he'd finish with 10 points, two rebounds, one assist, one block, and one steal.
McBride also put up 11 points in Game One and Game Five, going 3-for-6 from three-point range in both games -- he also added three assists in Game Five. He managed to tally at least five points in every game of the series.
"It's not about what you do in the regular season all the time," McBride said after Game Six. "At the end of the day, it's what you do in April, May and June. So we just wanted to, you know, get here, and focus on the team, and then we could get the job done."
The Knicks will advance to face the No. 4 seed Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals -- Game One is set for Wednesday, May 21st at 8 PM EST.