Fansided

The Knicks can't beat elite teams, but how scared should New York fans be?

Some teams are good against bad teams, some teams are good against good teams. In here we take a deeper look at the Knicks.
Apr 2, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau reacts during the second half against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Apr 2, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau reacts during the second half against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

On Wednesday night, The New York Knicks did something they haven’t done much of this season. They lost. On one hand, they played against an excellent Cleveland Cavaliers team. On the other hand, they still lost. Is that bad?

Welp. It’s not good for the Knicks.

You know, in the same way Trevor Moore said it in this Whitest Kids U Know sketch:

That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s terrible, though. Maybe. Let’s look at some Cleaning the Glass stats.

Per CTG, the Knicks this year have had a minus-5.7 net rating against the top 10 teams in the league by point differential. A record of 6-14. That is good for 12th best in the league.

Only six teams do have positive point differentials against top opponents. The ones that stand out the most are Oklahoma City, Boston and Cleveland with plus-8.4, plus-8.3, and plus-6.3 respectively. If you’re looking for teams to turn up against high level competition, those are the three we’ve been able to trust this year.

New York, is not on that level, at least stats wise. And, unfortunately, the basic stats don’t improve as you look more recently. Against Top 10 teams since the start of 2025, their differential has been a noticeably worse: minus-8.2. And since the All-Star break, that drops to minus-12.4. The sixth-worst mark in the league for that period.

It’s not good.

The Knicks are still a very good team, and they will be getting Jalen Brunson back, but this year to this point doesn’t really indicate much positive for playoff success if you’re just going by game to game results.

However, play shifts in the playoffs. Defense becomes more of a thing. Halfcourt sets instead of transition plays become more of the norm. You’re solving team by team or game by game issues instead of the more long-term thinking of building a base that comes with regular season play.

When it comes to halfcourt rankings, the Knicks are 12th in halfcourt defense, and fifth in halfcourt offense. If they’re going to trend anywhere in the playoffs, it should be to the positive.

And indeed, when it comes to half-court offense against Top 10 teams, the Knicks rank seventh in the league! (The halfcourt defense is ranked 23rd, though. Don’t tell anyone. 🤫)

All in all, things don’t get much better when you look a tad closer. There’s a chance they could have a playoff run with a steady pick and roll attack, maybe Thibs unlocking a higher level of defense from some extremely h*cking competent defenders, and Jalen Brunson, if he’s in top form. Again, they are good. But they’ll have to do something different to prove they’re good enough.

They have games against Boston, Cleveland, and Detroit among their last six of the season. Maybe they can show something then.

They’re running out of chances.

Schedule