The New York Knicks appeared well-positioned to continue their run as one of the Eastern Conference's solid playoff teams entering the 2023-24 season. After all, they brought back most of the core of last season's 47-win team while adding the ever-helpful combo guard Donte DiVincenzo in free agency. However, Julius Randle has been off to a terrible start in the new season, averaging just 13.7 points per game on 27.1 percent shooting from the field, and the rest of the team haven't played well enough to warrant a record better than the 2-5 they have thus far.

Nevertheless, perhaps the playoff-like atmosphere of the NBA In-Season Tournament can help the Knicks right the ship, especially when they're in a tough group against two other beasts of the Eastern Conference in the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat. Rounding out East Group B are two lottery teams in the Charlotte Hornets and the Washington Wizards, although those teams, especially the latter, can beat any team on any given night if they catch fire.

NBA In-Season Tournament format, explained

Each team will play a guaranteed four games, one contest apiece against every member of their group. This will both count as regular-season games and NBA In-Season Tournament contests. Only the top team of the group is guaranteed to advance to the knockout stage. Thus, there will be three teams from each conference to advance to the eight-team, single-elimination quarterfinals stage. Two teams would then round out the proceedings by virtue of qualifying via the wild card — the best non-group winning team.

All NBA In-Season Tournament games, apart from the championship matchup, will count towards a team's regular-season record. (The NBA has adjusted teams' schedules for the sole purpose of accommodating this new tournament.)

Knicks' In-Season Tournament Schedule, Opponents, and Bold Predictions

Game 1: Milwaukee Bucks

  • Friday, November 3
  • 7:30 PM ET
  • Fiserv Forum
  • Bucks win 110-105

Kicking things off in Group B was a heavyweight clash between the Knicks and the Bucks. The Bucks were heavily-favored entering the night, and justifiably so, seeing as they have the services of both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, but the Knicks' sheer toughness makes them a difficult matchup for anyone.

And much of the game was tightly-contested, with the Knicks even taking a lead late in the fourth quarter thanks to a scoring outburst from Jalen Brunson. In the end, it was Dame Time in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with Lillard scoring 15 of his 30 points on the night in the final frame to outlast the Knicks, 110-105. The Knicks simply needed a better effort from Julius Randle, who, despite tallying 16 points and 12 rebounds, shot 5-20 from the field and 1-9 from deep, unacceptable numbers from the team's purported number-one option.

Game 2: Washington Wizards

  • Friday, November 17
  • 7:00 PM ET
  • Capital One Arena

The Wizards, expectedly, have been one of the worst teams in the association after trading away Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis, leaving Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma as the team's de facto best players. Washington has been putrid on both ends of the court; due to efficiency woes, they rank 20th in offense, and their defense has been all sorts of whack, ranking 29th in the association — a toxic combination.

The Knicks may have fallen to the Wizards during preseason due to a 41-point flurry from Poole, but given the more important nature of this upcoming game, expect New York to take care of business easily, especially when Julius Randle is due for some positive regression against one of the worst defenses in the league.

Game 3: Miami Heat

  • Friday, November 24
  • 7:00 PM ET
  • Madison Square Garden

A rematch of last year's second-round matchup, expect this matchup to become nothing less than a bloodbath. After all, both teams relish physicality, and as a matter of fact, they do both thrive in such an environment, making it a must-watch matchup for fans that are looking to get a glimpse of how basketball looked like in the 1990s.

The Heat have worse depth than they did in recent times, but Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, and Bam Adebayo all have penchants for coming up huge under the brightest of lights. And there may be no brighter lights than the ones in Madison Square Garden. Nevertheless, expect the Knicks to pull out the stops to defeat the Heat on this given night as they play with some fiery motivation brought forth by their playoff defeat last season.

Game 4: Charlotte Hornets

  • Tuesday, November 28
  • 7:30 PM ET
  • Madison Square Garden

It's not always easy to gauge how any given game against the Hornets would go given how streaky they tend to be and how difficult they can be to stop when they get on a roll offensively. LaMelo Ball, fresh off a 30-point triple-double against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night, appears to be getting back on track, and perhaps by the 28th of this month, the Hornets could even get Miles Bridges, someone who always thrives in the Garden, back in action.

But the Knicks can outmuscle and outhustle the Hornets in every position, destroying them on the glass and in the paint en route to a convincing victory that puts them in second place in the group and in position to make the knockout stage.

Final prediction: Knicks go 3-1, make the knockout stage as the Eastern Conference wildcard team