The New York Knicks continued their winning ways, scoring a 129-101 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. That makes two straight wins, which advances New York to 7-3 in their last 10 games. But strictly looking at wins and losses misses the point for a team like the Knicks.
New York has won 50 or more games in the past two seasons. And they've made the playoffs in four of their last five years. While wins are important, the Knicks should be aiming for an appearance in the NBA Finals, at the least. Unfortunately, New York has struggled against the caliber of teams they’ll likely face on the road to a championship. And therein lies the problem.
Knicks have struggled against winning opponents
After their recent win against the Hornets, the Knicks are 11-6 on the season. That’s good for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. But New York is just 5-5 against teams that boast a winning record.
Looking more closely at how they’ve fared against the better teams, the Knicks are 1-2 against the Miami Heat, 0-2 against the Orlando Magic, and 1-1 against the Chicago Bulls.
Sure, they some wins against winning teams. They defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers on opening night in an emotionally charged win. They beat the overachieving Boston Celtics. And they did manage to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves — New York’s most impressive win of the young season.
But most of the Knicks success has come against losing teams. They are 2-0 against the Brooklyn Nets. They’ve also collected wins against the Washington Wizards, Memphis Grizzlies, and, most recently, the Hornets. But after being eliminated in the playoffs by the Indiana Pacers in back-to-back seasons, the Knicks’ real challenge is getting past the better teams.
Reason for hope despite Knicks’ poor play against winning teams
But fear not Knicks’ fans, there is more to New York’s lack of success against good teams than meets the eye.
First, New York has been without OG Anunoby for the past five games. Anunoby provides the Knicks with significant energy. He has also traditionally been the team’s best defender — though Mikal Bridges might have something to say about that now. And he adds 15.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
New York is 3-2 without, which isn’t bad. But both of those losses came against winning teams. In Anunoby's absence, the Knicks have dropped games to Miami (by two) and Orlando (by 12). Anunoby would have likely flipped at least one of those games — at least the game against the Heat given the point differential.
But the Knicks have been without more than just Anunoby. Mitchell Robinson, the team’s best rebounder and post defender, has been limited all season. He’s missed seven of the team’s 17 games so far. And he remains on a minutes restriction, which is (presumably) a precaution given how injury prone he’s been. Robinson has only played 20 or more minutes once this season. And predictably, the Knicks are better when Robinson is fully available.
Reserve guard Landry Shamet also recently suffered a relatively serious injury — though the diagnosis was better than originally thought. And while the Knicks are 2-0 without Shamet, both wins came against sub-.500 teams. Shamet’s absence will be more evident against better teams when New York would benefit from the depth he provides.
The Knicks must exhibit more grit and consistency, especially against winning teams. But they have also been dealt a number of injuries to start the season, which has impacted their ability to fully grasp new coach Mike Brown’s systems. Injuries also intuitively limit their ability to play their best basketball. Still, the Knicks must figure out how to beat the better teams in the league sooner than later. Otherwise, their championship drought will stretch to another season — and it’s already been at least 53 years since their last one.
