Barbara Barker: Knicks' consistency will help cut a path through NBA postseason
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson lands in the seats after making a three-point basket against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second half of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
No, you are not alone.
If you’ve been confused by the Knicks' up and down play all season, you have plenty of company. Even an expert who watches and studies hundreds of NBA games a season and is paid to analyze and comment on the league is not quite sure what to make of this Knicks squad under Mike Brown. How can the same team that put up brick after brick against Cleveland in late February, dominate a hot San Antonio team a week later?
“That San Antonio win was impressive, but you struggle to find out what they really are because the gap between their ceiling and floor is so great,” ESPN analyst Tim Legler told Newsday before working Wednesday night’s game between Oklahoma City and the Knicks. “You know what they are capable of on a given night. But being capable of something on a given night does not translate into deep postseason success.”
Legler thinks the Knicks have a golden opportunity against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Oklahoma City, an opportunity to send a message to the rest of the league with a strong game against the defending champions.
“The Spurs game already was a statement. How do you back it up? You do it again,” Legler said. “The last thing you want to do is take a step back. You want to send a message now? You already beat the Spurs. Really impressive win. Then, you take care of a good team like Toronto on the road which you did. And then you come back and make a statement against Oklahoma City.
“Then, you are stringing them together and that’s the consistency we are talking about. You are starting to look like a team that can make a deep run.”
With wins over San Antonio and Toronto, the Knicks have started their toughest stretch of the season 2-0. After the Thunder tonight, they're on the road to play Denver and the Lakers.
There’s little doubt that beating Oklahoma City and their top-rated defense would be the toughest task. The Thunder entered Wednesday night’s game with a league-best 48-15 record, having won three in a row and eight of their last 10 games. The Knicks have lost seven of their last eight games against OKC, including four a row.
One reason that there is so much attention being paid to Wednesday’s game is that it is their first meeting of the season, even though it’s five months into the schedule. At the start of the season, many thought this night could be a potential finals preview.
While Oklahoma City played like a potential champion all season, the Knicks have had significant struggles. Beginning with a loss to San Antonio on New Year’s Eve, they went through a 2-9 stretch. The Knicks have also struggled against the best teams in the East.
The Knicks are 0-3 against Detroit, having lost by an average of 28 points. Though they won their first two games against Cleveland before the team picked up James Harden, the Knicks were dominated by them in their most recent matchup, losing 109-94 in late February. The Knicks are also 2-1 against a surprisingly strong Boston Celtics squad that could get Jayson Tatum back for the playoffs.
Still, there are enough flaws with the top teams in the East that Legler believes they have a chance to get further in the playoffs than any Knicks team since the 1999 team went to the NBA Finals.
“The Knicks are a team you have to label a contender,” Legler said. The Pistons have earned the right to be called the best team, but at the same time they have not won a series together. They don’t know what it’s like to win four games in a playoff series.
"Because of that and the issues Cleveland has had in the playoffs the last couple of years and the fact that Boston has overachieved and they don’t know if they will get Tatum back.
“Because of that, when you look at the top four teams, you have to look at the Knicks and see that the path is there. I love this challenge for the Knicks an I really want to see what they can do against the No. 1 defense in the NBA. If they play defense the way they did against San Antonio and can operate their offense throughout the night comfortably, that will make a big statement in my mind what they can do in the postseason.”
The path is there.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
