Win totals have been set via betonline.ag for the upcoming NBA season. For the New York Knicks, their total has been set at 42.5 wins.
Tom Thibodeau’s club is coming of a 41-31 season that saw them clinch the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks added in the offseason and are poised to try and take another step forward.
Here are three reasons why the Knicks will eclipse their 42.5 win total in the 2021 season.
1.) The Knicks won 41 games in a shortened season last year
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NBA shortened the schedule to 72 games last year, down 10 from the typical 82 game season. The Knicks won 41 of their 72 contests.
Next year the league will be going back to the standard 82 game season. Despite that, the over / under for the Knicks is giving just 1.5 more wins on the total to bet on.
New York won 41 games last year and will play in 10 more games this season. They got better in the offseason compared to what the roster looked like last year. Yes, a lot of other teams in the Eastern Conference improved as well but it’s not a far-fetched idea to expect this Knicks team to win just two more games than last year’s squad given the additions of Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier and the extra ten games on the schedule.
2.) It’s a better Knicks team this year than last year
Elfrid Payton is long gone from the Knicks and they upgraded that starting point guard position by adding Bronx native Kemba Walker.
Walker is an absolute bucket getter as is Evan Fournier, who New York also added in free agency.
The Knicks ran into a repetitive problem in their playoff series against the Hawks and it was the inability for many on the roster to create and get their own shots. Walker and Fournier bring that to the table and provide a facelift to the starting five for Thibdoeau.
New York won 41 games last year and got better in the offseason. Expecting them to win at least 43 this year isn’t a huge stretch.
3.) Tom Thibodeau in year two has gotten better at each stop
Tom Thibodeau started his head coaching career in 2011 with the Chicago Bulls. That team won 62 games in 2011 in Thibs’ first year. The 2012 season was shortened, but the Bulls won 50 of their 66 games and had a win percentage of .758 in year two under Thibodeau compared to .756 in year one.
Thibodeau would go on to coach the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2017-2019. In year one, the Wolves went 31-51. In the second year and after adding Jimmy Butler, they went 47-35.
Each stop for Thibodeau along the way has yielded better results in year two than in year one. For a lot of the young guys on this Knicks’ roster, they now have a year under their belt in Thibs’ system. In theory, they should feel that much more comfortable entering this season.
With a rotation that should see: Kemba Walker, RJ Barrett, Evan Fournier, Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, Derrick Rose, Alec Burks, Immanuel Quickley, Obi Toppin, Nerlens Noel and sprinkles of rookies Miles McBridge and Quentin Grimes, 43 wins is well within reach.
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