Not even going 4-1 was enough to let pundits know how good this team is.
The New York Knicks just completed their best week of the season, stringing together three consecutive wins ahead of their upcoming road trip. They dominated a Joel Embiid-led Sixers team, secured back-to-back victories against the Nets at MSG, and suffered only one loss (4-1) due to an overly ambitious afro that derailed the Blue & Orange’s plans for a perfect seven-day stretch.
Here’s a roundup of all the Power Rankings posted through Monday’s matchups, capturing the national perception of the Knicks among the basketball elite,
Note: I have included a +/- next to each rank, with a minus sign (-) meaning dropping down and a plus sign (+) meaning climbing up X spots compared to last week’s position on that outlet.
NBA — No. 13 — New York Knicks (+2)
John Schuhmann of NBA.com thought New York did barely enough to move up a couple of spots, although his rankings didn’t factor in Monday’s matchup and thus left out the Knicks win over Washington.
Schuhmann, however, acknowledges the Knicks moving above the mediocre .500 winning percentage once and for all and since they last did when they went 3-2 earlier in the season.
“Prior to Friday, New York opponents had shot 62.0% (the league’s highest opponent mark) in the paint. But the Nets shot just 26-for-64 (41%) in the paint over the weekend, with Ariel Hukporti (playing 30 minutes with Karl-Anthony Towns out) blocking four shots on Friday when Mikal Bridges sealed the win by blocking Dennis Schröder at the buzzer.
“The Knicks added a couple of guys who can get buckets in the offseason, but Jalen Brunson has a higher usage rate in the clutch (39.6%, fifth in the league) than he did last season (37.5%, third). He’s 3-for-5 on shots to tie or take the lead in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime, with all three makes (plus a miss for the win against Chicago) having come last week. The three makes are tied with Kevin Durant (3-for-5) and Jayson Tatum (3-for-6) for the league lead.
Overall, Brunson has an effective field goal percentage of just 51.5%, the lowest mark of his career, though not a huge drop from the last two seasons (54.5%). That’s mostly about his shooting from outside the paint; His shooting in the paint (56.5%) is up from the last two years (54.5%) and he’s also registering the highest free throw rate of his career (36 attempts per 100 shots from the field).”
As the season progresses, it’s going to be hard to see a lot of movement in the ranks. That’s why the NBA’s power rankings featured no teams overtaking the Knicks and only two (Pacers and Clippers) falling behind New York compared to last week.
The Athletic — No. 9 — New York Knicks (+6)
Law Murray of The Athletic was much kinder to New York, putting the Knicks back into his personal top 10 and into Tier 2, a.k.a. “In a Good Place.”
Murray highlighted one “notable injury” per team this week, and he reasonably picked Mitchell Robinson as the one hurting New York the most in the early stages of the season because of the depth he’d add to Tom Thibodeau’s rotation.
“New York has an offensively potent starting lineup. But one of the reasons center Karl-Anthony Towns is a Knick in the first place is because of the long-term injury to Robinson.
“New York is still thin up front, with backup power forward Precious Achiuwa missing time as well to begin the season. Getting Robinson back would allow New York to improve its rim protection.”
Only the Magic (from 16th to 7th) enjoyed a bigger push than the Knicks in The Athletic’s eyes, while New York overtook the Suns, Nuggets, and Mavericks.
ESPN — No. 13 — New York Knicks (-1)
The ESPN panel didn’t think the Knicks have done enough during the past seven days to merit a move up or even stay in the position they inhabited a week ago when they ranked 12th
This week, the folks over at ESPN didn’t focus on any topic in particular, making things a little more boring than usual—as if that was easy—by simply touching on whatever popped up in their brain. In the Knicks’ case, that’s Karl-Anthony Town’s offense and much-maligned defense.
“Few players have been more offensively dynamic than Karl-Anthony Towns, who’s enjoying career-best efficiency and rebound rates while spraying no-look passes all over from one game to the next. The downside? Teams are shooting 9.5 percentage points better than average within six feet of the basket when Towns is defending it, by far the NBA’s worst rate for any center who’s faced at least 50 such shots this season.”
Good for New York, however, is the fact that only the Orlando Magic overtook the Knicks in this week’s ESPN ranks, whatever you make of that.
What are your thoughts on the ranks above? Where do you have the Knicks ranked after they split their first six games of the season? Drop your hot takes in the comments section below!