Nothing truly will be decided nor accurately measured until the Knicks prove they can defeat the NBA’s most elite teams and advance deeper into the playoffs.
Even they know that.
Still, essentially two-thirds of the way into their schedule, the Knicks’ 36-18 record represents their best through 54 games since they were 39-15 at this stage in 1996-97, when their current best players either were toddlers or not yet born.
“We’ve done good thus far, but we have a long way to go,” team captain Jalen Brunson told the MSG crowd during a walk-off interview following Wednesday’s overtime win over the Hawks. “I’m excited to get down the stretch, man. It’s going to be fun.”
Only three teams in the NBA own a better winning percentage at the All-Star break than the Knicks’ figure of .667, which is tied for fourth overall with the Grizzlies.
But with the goal of advancing deeper into the playoffs after two straight second-round eliminations, the Knicks also are winless in five head-to-head matchups against the Thunder (0-2), the Cavaliers (0-1) and the defending champion Celtics (0-2).
The Knicks will face the latter two Eastern Conference foes five more times after the break, including consecutive road games in Cleveland and Boston next weekend.
“It’s a group of guys that prioritize winning, whatever happens, and we’ll continue to fight,” said Precious Achiuwa, who scored a season-high 26 points against the Hawks. “I think we’re a well-put-together team.
“We’ve been able to accomplish a lot so far this season, and we just gotta continue to play at the same pace we are right now and continue to trust each other and play hard, and I think we’ll be just fine.”
The Knicks, who are hoping to get OG Anunoby (foot) and Mitchell Robinson (ankle) back after the layoff, rank second in the NBA in offensive rating (119.3 points scored per 100 possessions), but only 18th in defensive rating (113.9 allowed per 100) for a fifth-ranked net rating of 6.0.
“I think offensively, we’re doing great. Defensively, we got things to work on,” All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns said. “Consistency, discipline, but I think these are all things that I think, as y’all in the media could see, that’s from Game 1 to now, it’s we’re a much better version of ourselves. I’ve always talked about with y’all since Day 1, about what the 1 percent — finding ourselves getting 1 percent better every night. And I think this team has grown.
“I hope that [Wednesday’s win is] a great example of games that would have been much more difficult for us early in the season and games I feel would have been very tough to win. But we find ourselves on the right side, and it talks about the growth of this team. It talks about the continuity that we have with each other, the belief that we have that regardless of how it’s going, that we’ll find ourselves with a win.”
The Knicks own the ninth-hardest remaining schedule in the NBA, according to Tankathon, with an opponents’ winning percentage of .519.
But it’s the second-hardest in the East, behind only the Bucks (.523).
They hold a 5 ¹/₂-game cushion over No. 4 Indiana and trail the Celtics by 2 ¹/₂ for second in the conference, including a two-game differential in the loss column.
“We haven’t really accomplished anything. We have a long way to go to get to where we want to go,” Brunson said. “It’s all about just taking one day at a time. Right now, it’s just to rest and recharge and come back ready to go.”
