An oft-quoted remark from Economist John Maynard Keynes goes, "The market can stay irrational longer than I can remain liquid". i.e., just because I'm right, and am sure I will eventually be proven right, doesn't mean it will happen fast enough for me to profit by it.
I think that likewise, whatever overuse problems might crop up due to Thibs' Dusty Baker routine may be somewhat unlikely to rear their heads by the time the ECF rolls around. Or maybe OG's hamstring is the first evidence of it. But honestly, Hart and DiVincenzo look like frickin olympic athletes out there conditioning-wise, they're hardly slowing down by the end of games, and Brunson seems able to pull whatever amount of weight he needs to (there were times vs Philly where he did seem to wear down by the end of games though). But yeah - the Knicks can probably remain healthy longer than we can wait for it all to fall apart. So i'm certainly not basing my view of a (still-hypothetical) ECF on the assumption that the grueling pace will see the wheels finally come off, their oxen will ford the river and drown, and Deuce McBride will die of cholera.
As for rooting for them, I agree, I find the entire team to be very likable and clearly very easy to root for. Brunson's head-snapping and foul grifting bother me, but it's not to Peak Harden proportions so I can kinda look past it and appreciate the huge depth of toolkit he's working with out there. The fans really aren't that obnoxious by NBA fanbase standards - they're knowledgeable, they show up on time, cheer hard, and boo Reggie Miller when he's on the jumbotron, I feel like the basic boxes are checked. My rivalry hate is reserved for the Lakers for historical reasons and the Heat for recent-history reasons, and I really don't have much left to summon after that, to lay on top of the least-intense of the Boston-NYC sports rivalries.