
3. Improvement On The Road
The New York Knicks began the 2016-17 NBA regular season with five losses in six road games. The one exception was an emotionally driven win over the Chicago Bulls, when Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah made their highly anticipated return to the United Center.
Since opening the season at 1-5 on the road, however, the Knicks have gone an even 4-4 in the eight road games that have followed.
If New York were to go .500 on the road the rest of the way, it’d all but guarantee itself a postseason appearance. It’d still need to execute at home, but with an 11-5 home record, it appears as though the Knicks are prepared to do so.
Rather than losing their confidence after losing five of their first six road games, New York has done enough to be considered a threat no matter the venue.
If New York continues to play .500 basketball on the road, it would win a rounded down 13 more games played away from home. That would give New York 18 road wins overall, which means it’d need to go just 12-13 at home the rest of the way to finish at .500.
This is all hypothetical thinking at this point of the season, but New York has improved to the point of being solid on the road.