Carmelo Anthony: Gold Medal Means Great Things For Knicks

Past Results: 2012-13, Team

If you’re evaluating the 2008-09 and 2012-13 seasons side-by-side, you’ll find that the results are almost identical. In the regular season, the 2012-13 New York Knicks and 2008-09 Denver Nuggets achieved the same success.

It was in 2012-13 that Carmelo Anthony led New York to what may have been its greatest season since the 1990s.

Anthony led the Knicks to a 54-28 record, which was good enough for New York to win the Atlantic Division title. Anthony also helped New York get by the Boston Celtics in Round 1, thus resulting in an Eastern Conference Semifinals appearance.

For perspective: No Knicks team had made it past the first round of the NBA Playoffs since 1999-2000—a 13-year drought.

Furthermore, no Knicks team had won at least 54 games since 1996-97—a 16-year drought. No Knicks team had won the Atlantic Division title since 1993-94—a 19-year drought.

If Anthony has more of that up his sleeve in 2016-17, the Knicks will be a 54-win team with an Atlantic Division title.

Next: The Missing Factor