5 reasons the Knicks can still win the Eastern Conference

3. Poor Competition

Besides a select few teams, the Eastern Conference contains almost-contenders and rebuilding projects. The Cavaliers are clearly the favorite to win the East, but after them, is there another team that the Knicks couldn’t beat in a playoff series? Absolutely not. In addition to the Knicks and Cavaliers, only the Bulls, Celtics, and Raptors have a pedigree that could make an NBA Finals. That’s being generous.

New York played Cleveland twice so far this year, getting absolutely demolished in both games. If you dig a little bit deeper, those games weren’t exactly run-of-the-mill NBA games. The first loss came on opening night and as we all know, anything can happen in the first week of the season. Let’s not forget the 19-win 76ers won their first three games in 2013-14, including an opening-night win over LeBron’s Miami Heat team. Aafter we throw away the first loss, it brings us to the December 7 blowout at Madison Square Garden. That game was an outlier because of LeBron James personal-vendetta against Phil Jackson. After the Knicks GM made his infamous “posse” comments, there was no way LeBron would let his team lose.

Depending on how the bracket shapes-up, the Knicks and Cavaliers could play as early as the Eastern Conference Semifinals. It would be in New York’s best interest to secure the No. 2 seed and hope for Cleveland to get upset in the early-rounds. If Indiana finishes in the eight seed, that will be an extremely tough match-up for Cleveland. Remember all those Pacers battles against LeBron’s Heat teams? For whatever reason, Indiana always has been a thorn in LeBron’s side.

Barring any significant injuries to New York, they really can win a potential playoff series with Cleveland. When the chips are down, the Knicks can win home games at the Garden and hopefully will steal the series on the road.