The lack of better pretenders kept New York atop the best wannabe contenders.
If the New York Knicks won’t sugarcoat things I won’t do either. Simply put, it’s been a putrid week for the team coached by Thibs. For how long that remains the case (both getting putrid results and having Tom Thibodeau at the helm), we can only wait and see.
One win in three games, in overtime, thanks to a miraculous block forcing the bonus, and against the Chicago Bulls of all teams isn’t going to cut it, folks. Ask the Cavs and Celtics for what’s proper game management.
Here’s a roundup of all the power rankings posted at different outlets through Tuesday’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. 6 — New York Knicks (-1)
John Schuhmann of NBA.com could have truly blasted New York and drop the Knicks further down his rankings but with no clear-cut better teams across the Association that wouldn’t have made much sense either.
As the pundit made sure to highlight, the last few days marked a dark stretch for New York with the Manhattanites making it clear they’re not as much a contending squad as some would like to believe.
“The Knicks remain winless against the three best teams in the league, now 0-7 after ugly losses in Cleveland and Boston over the weekend.
“Six of those seven losses have come by double-digits, and the Knicks have trailed each of the last four by at least 27 points. They’ve allowed 127.9 points per 100 possessions over the seven games, including 79 on 54 (1.46 per) over their two first quarters over the weekend.
“The Knicks cut the Celtics’ 27-point lead down to four on Sunday, but they remain one of four teams — the Sixers, Jazz and Wizards are the others — without a win (they’re 0-13) after trailing by at least 15 points. They’re also one of two teams – Denver is the other – without a loss (they’re 26-0) after leading by 15 or more.
“Mitchell Robinson could make his season debut this week and will help on the glass. The Knicks have seen the league’s third-biggest drop in offensive rebounding percentage and its 10th-biggest drop in defensive rebounding percentage from last season.” — John Schuhmann
The Knicks dropping one spot meant the Nuggets overtook them with the Lakers now considered a top-4 team in the League. The Luka Effect, fellas.
The Athletic — No. 4 — New York Knicks (-)
Law Murray of The Athletic once more surprised me and left the Knicks right where he placed them last week even they are coming off two embarrassing losses.
For this edition of the ranks, Murray decided to focus on what might happen after the All-Star break and what each team can do during the home stretch of the season. For New York, he brought back last season’s bad memories as a positive, I guess, thinking those woes could always happen to other squads this time around opening a contending path for the Knickerbockers.
“Post All-Star break: I could just make another tier if I wanted to, but I’m not going to do that. I’ll just point out that a lot of weird things can happen in the playoffs and on the way to the playoffs. The Knicks know that very well, losing Julius Randle before the All-Star break last year while dealing with a rash of injuries until their elimination in the semifinals. New York has made it very clear this season that it’s not capable of beating the three teams ahead of it in these rankings. But the Knicks also are very good against everyone else, and they’re going to have to hope some other team takes out the squads they don’t match up well against. We have a long way to go, so let’s see how it plays out.” — Law Murray
The Knicks are one of five teams locked into what Murray labeled Tier 1: Top Contenders, which he seemed to have set up already for the remainder of the season.
ESPN — No. 6 — New York Knicks (-)
The ESPN panel brought back their power rankings after a two-week hiatus and it seems nothing has changed their opinion about where the Knicks rank among their peers.
New York retained its place, still sitting in sixth place ahead of the home stretch of the season.
That’s precisely this week’s topic, with the analysts of ESPN talking about the most important stretch of games left on each franchise’s schedule during the final weeks of the campaign.
“Despite owning the league’s fifth-best record, the Knicks are currently 0-7 against the top teams in the league: Cavs, Thunder and Celtics. Five of those defeats weren’t truly competitive either.
“New York has three games left against the Cavs and Celtics collectively; all three of which fall between April 2 and April 11. The Knicks will be eager to illustrate they are a title contender, despite what they’ve shown in their highest-profile games so far.” — Chris Herring
The only change in the top five involved the two teams atop the rankings, as the Cleveland Cavaliers overtook the Oklahoma City Thunder to take possession of the no. 1 spot.
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!