New York Knicks Tankapoloza 2015! MUST LOSE Next Two Games!

This week the New York Knicks has two crucial back to back games that are essential to their attempts to get a number one overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft.

The Knicks take on the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 19^th and the Philadelphia 76ers on March 20^th. Currently while writing this, the San Antonio Spurs are on top of the Knicks, it is probably safe to say the defending Champions will win tonight (Tuesday night 3/17/15). So with that asterisk, New York has 53(54*) losses, while both Philadelphia and Minnesota have 52 losses.

It is called a lottery for a reason but still, it is nice to be ahead in the loss column. Here is the percentage breakdown of the possibility of getting the number one overall pick with 1 representing worst team in the league’s chances.

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250 combinations, 25.0% chance of receiving the #1 pick
199 combinations, 19.9% chance
156 combinations, 15.6% chance
119 combinations, 11.9% chance
88 combinations, 8.8% chance
63 combinations, 6.3% chance
43 combinations, 4.3% chance
28 combinations, 2.8% chance
17 combinations, 1.7% chance
11 combinations, 1.1% chance
8 combinations, 0.8% chance
7 combinations, 0.7% chance
6 combinations, 0.6% chance
5 combinations, 0.5% chance

So as you can see from the percentage breakdown, it would be ideal to be at least one of the top four worst team in the league but it is called a lottery for a reason. All you need to do is look back to last year’s NBA draft, in which the Cleveland Cavaliers who were the ninth worst team in the league last year with a 33-49 record, which was good for 1.7% chance of winning and actually wound up with the number one overall pick in the draft. Nonetheless for peace of mind, I rather New York have 25% chance of receiving the number one overall pick than 11.9%, obviously…

With that said it is crucial that New York lose both these back to back games, especially when you look at the strength of schedule rankings remaining as per PredictionMachine.com. “Strength of schedule rankings are based on the strength of the opponents that the team has played in the season to-date. Factors considered in these rankings include: margin of victory and wins and losses of opponents and the opponents of a team’s opponents.”

Both Minnesota and Philadelphia have a tougher strength of schedule remaining, which means both are more likely to lose more games. With a slim one (two*) lead in the loss column, that is bad news to Knicks’ fans. According to PredictionMachine.com the Timberwolves have the third hardest strength of schedule remaining, while the Sixers have the seventh most difficult strength of schedule remaining. The Knicks have the twelfth hardest strength of schedule remaining.

Another concern outside of Minnesota and Philadelphia is the Los Angeles Lakers…you know the team that New York just completed a season swept against last week (the Lakers showed the Knicks how tanking is done)…, the first time this happened since the 2006-2007 season. The Lakers are only four (five*) losses back on the loss column, and have the toughest remaining strength of schedule according to PredictionMachine.com.

Bottom line I am rooting for New York to lose the rest of the way, go on an 18 (15* if by some miracle New York beats the San Antonio tonight) game losing streak to end the season.

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