New York went from 1-2 in Week 1 to 2-1 this week, and that helped league-wide perceptions.
Coming off a losing start (1-2) to their title-winning season through the first week of play, the Knicks flipped the script and the record during the second week of play, going 2-1 with victories over Miami and Detroit and a single defeat to Houston on the road before Election Day last Monday.
Because New York faced three teams covering the full competing spectrum this past week, it’s reasonable to find out that the winning record hasn’t moved the needle so much in the eyes of analysts’ power-ranking squads after Week 2.
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. 6 — New York Knicks (-1)
John Schuhmann of NBA.com ranked the Knicks at No. 5 a week ago and dropped New York one spot this week.
It’s worth noting that Schuhmann’s rankings didn’t factor in the loss at Houston but included the defeat against the Cavs at the end of October, making it a 2-2 week for New York in those terms.
Schuhmann observed three things during the last week of play, including the improvement of Karl-Anthony Towns as he gets more comfortable within the Knicks’ offense, the resurgence of Jalen Brunson after a middling start to the season, and Josh Hart’s sublime impact.
“Karl-Anthony Towns scored 44 points in the Knicks’ win in Miami, capping the performance with a couple of buckets against former teammate Jimmy Butler. Towns was 4-for-5 from 3-point range on Wednesday and 11-for-17 (65%) from deep for the season, but he’s taken 62% of his shots in the paint, with that being his highest rate in the last eight seasons.
“After Towns’ 44 in Miami, Jalen Brunson had 36 (shooting 6-for-8 from deep) in Detroit. The Knicks have scored a remarkable 1.7 points per direct possession (action leads directly to a shot, turnover or trip to the line) when Towns has set a ball screen for Brunson (39 possessions total).
“Josh Hart left the loss to Cleveland on Monday with a shin contusion. Two nights later, he was listed as questionable … and played more than 42 minutes in Miami. Over their five games, the Knicks have been at their worst (minus 6.1 points per 100 possessions) with Hart off the floor.
The Warriors and the Suns were the only two teams overtaking the Knicks in the ranks, while the Lakers and the Wolves were the two teams dropping from the top five.
The Athletic — No. 12 — New York Knicks (+1)
Law Murray of The Athletic published his rankings on Tuesday’s league-wide day off, ranking the Knicks one spot above the one he initially slotted in after the first week of play.
As he pointed out in his column, the Knicks enter Wednesday boasting the third-best Offensive Rating in the NBA, scoring 119 points per 100 possessions, but they are a subpar team on defense, allowing 113.9 PP100 and ranking 19th in DRtg.
“It did not take long for Towns and Bridges to get acclimated with the Knicks, and the new starting lineup can be lethal offensively, as the Pistons found out this week.“
“Like the Lakers, New York doesn’t have much in the way of depth right now, even with McBride’s Sixth Man of the Year push to start the season. That’s fine as long as New York’s starters can handle the playoff-type minutes in November.”
Murray split his rankings into different tiers with the Lakers (11th), the Knicks, the Heat, the Nets (!), the Grizzlies, and the Pacers among those “In The Bubble” as part of Tier 3.
ESPN — No. 7 — New York Knicks (+1)
The ESPN panel also bumped the Knicks up one spot in their latest round of power rankings, moving them up from No. 8 to No. 7 on Tuesday’s ranks.
This time, the folks from the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network decided to avoid focusing on anything in particular, so they simply pointed out New York’s improvement as the Knicks’ chemistry keeps growing without noticing any negative developments.
“Things were downright ugly in New York’s season opener against the Celtics. But in the five games since, the defensive duo of OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges has been stout, surrendering 101.8 points per 100 possessions in 106 minutes. (That number would rank third in the league behind Oklahoma City and Golden State.)
“In particular, the pair was relentless in Detroit this past week, helping lead the Knicks to a 16-steal performance in a blowout victory.”
The Knicks were only overtaken by the Warriors here, with Golden State moving up six spots from No. 11 to No. 5. On the other hand, the Wolves and the Lakers moved below the Knicks after ranking higher than New York a week ago.
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!