Beating the lowly Bucks didn’t make up for the losses against the Hawks and the Pacers.
If there is something, anything, defining the Knicks season to date, it’s that this campaign been a true rollercoaster. The team has played 10 games (nine through Monday) and has yet to string either three consecutive wins or losses.
Only twice, in fact, have the Knicks lost or won two games in back-to-back matchups during the early part of the schedule. The problem for New York, in the eyes of the analysts power ranking the league this week, is that despite beating Philly on the NBA Cup opener, they put up a putrid 1-3 record that included losses to the Hawks and the Rockets.
Here’s a roundup of all Power Rankings posted through Monday’s matchups to get the temperature of how the Knicks are perceived among the honchos of the basketball nation.
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. 15 — New York Knicks (-9)
John Schuhmann of NBA.com ranked the Knicks at No. 6 a week ago, but dropped New York savagely this week, lowering them down nearly 10 spots in his power rankings.
Schuhmann’s tally didn’t include Tuesday’s victory but factored in all other matchups played until the Knicks hit Philly, which put his ranks on par with the rest out there (not often the case).
“That the Knicks are 4-5 with the league’s second-ranked offense tells you where their issues begin. Their starting lineup has allowed 122 points per 100 possessions, the worst mark among 10 lineups that have played at least 100 minutes. Some of that is 3-point shooting (42.2%) which should drop with time, but opponents have also shot 63% inside the arc with the starters on the floor.
“The Knicks are also 4-5 with a positive point differential, having lost four of their five games that were within five points in the last five minutes. They’ve grabbed less than 30% of available rebounds with the score within five in the last five and their inability to grab a board (without fouling) hurt them down the stretch in Atlanta on Wednesday.
“They didn’t have to worry about clutch time on Friday when they beat the Bucks by 22 (when Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart combined for 16 assists and zero turnovers). Brunson’s scoring efficiency is down a little from his first two seasons in New York, but his assist/turnover ratio of 3.69 is the best mark of his career by a wide margin. Hart, meanwhile, is averaging a career-high 5.1 assists per game, having dished out 28 over the last four.”
With the Knicks tumbling, the LA Clippers, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Denver Nuggets easily overtook them. Yikes.
The Athletic — No. 15 — New York Knicks (-3)
Law Murray of The Athletic thinks the same as the official NBA honchos, albeit with more hesitation about New York’s true talent level, as proved by the mild drop of just three spots from Week 2 to Week 3.
Murray thinks the one “nice” thing about the Knicks so far this season, as that’s the topic covered on his W3 column, is that “the offense is powerful.”
“We don’t need to discuss the defense that has kept the Knicks under .500. Let’s focus on how New York is the slowest team in the league, which makes its ability to find scoring success at the end of possessions so difficult to deal with. Going from Julius Randle to Karl-Anthony Towns has helped New York get some of the best shots in basketball, as only three teams have a better field goal percentage. Towns is shooting 53.7 percent from 3 as well.”
Among the teams overtaking the Knicks in Murray’s ranks are the Pacers, the Clippers, and the Grizzlies.
ESPN — No. 12 — New York Knicks (-5)
The ESPN panel also bumped the Knicks down more than one and two spots in their latest rankings, although they waited until past the NBA Cup opener to compile their rankings, which means the Knicks won one more game than they did for all other analysts.
This week, the folks over at ESPN focused on one key role player per team. Hence, you know who they picked from New York. Yeah, that’s right, Deuce McBride.
“From New York’s opening-night contest in Boston, when he notched 22 points on just 10 shots against the defending champs, Miles “Deuce” McBride has stood out as looking increasingly comfortable in his fourth year. His efficiency numbers aren’t all that different from a season ago, but the 24-year-old’s usage and role are a bit larger; especially with offseason pickup Cameron Payne dealing with an injury. McBride has scored double figures in six of nine games while continuing to play stout defense.”
Dropping from the seventh spot, New York was overtaken by the Lakers, the Rockets, the Grizzlies, the Wolves, and the Nuggets in this version of the latest power rankings.
Yahoo — No. 15 — New York Knicks (-4)
Finally, Yahoo’s Ben Rohrbach brought back his power rankings after a week out of the beat, ranking the Knicks four places below the spot he initially placed the team after the opening week.
Rohrbach points out the huge discrepancy between New York’s offense (2nd-best ORtg) and defense (21st) and quotes Thibs ranting about it.
“Coach Tom Thibodeau, whose Knicks are ranked second in offensive rating and 21st in defensive rating through the season’s first three weeks, gets to the heart of the matter in New York: “If we’re just gonna rely on offense, we’re not gonna be a good team.”
In Rorbach’s eyes, the Pacers, Kings, Clippers, Rockets, and Warriors did enough during the past 14 days to jump above the Knicks in the power rankings.
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!