New York Knicks expressing sense of urgency to improve on the road
The New York Knicks are one of the best home teams in the NBA, but continue to struggle on the road. Enes Kanter knows exactly how important it is to improve.
The New York Knicks are well on their way to reclaiming ownership of Madison Square Garden. After posting a losing record at The Mecca in four consecutive seasons, the Knicks are off to a 15-5 start at MSG, including wins over the Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Toronto Raptors.
Unfortunately, New York’s brilliant play at home hasn’t traveled with it, thus resulting in a paltry road record of 2-10—the third-worst mark in the NBA.
The Knicks’ road woes took a turn for the painful on Friday, Dec. 22. Despite leading by two with just 45 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, New York fell 104-101 to the Detroit Pistons—a team it previously blew a 21-point lead to on Oct. 21.
According to Marc Berman of The New York Post, center Enes Kanter understands how important it is for the Knicks to be able to close out and win road games if the postseason is the goal.
"“For the last whatever minutes, we just need to know how to finish the games,’’ Kanter said. “Especially the fourth quarters are really important for us. If we’re talking about playoffs, we need to figure it out. It’s too important, man. If a team doesn’t know how to win on the road, then even if we make the playoffs, we’re not going to go that far. We need to learn how to win on the road, especially when the crowd is not behind us, when the fans are not behind us, we need to have the same energy as when we are home.’’"
Missing the playoffs would provide the Knicks with an opportunity to add another lottery pick to the mix, but the players know how realistic of a goal the postseason is.
The context of Kanter’s comments is that he’s played for everything from a contender to a fringe postseason team to a lottery squad. He and the Thunder narrowly missed the playoffs in 2014-15, reached the Conference Finals in 2015-16, and were a No. 6 seed in 2016-17.
During that three-year window, as well as his time with the Utah Jazz, Kanter learned exactly how important it is to be able to win on the road.
Oklahoma City missed the playoffs because of a tiebreak in 2014-15, but that wouldn’t have been an issue had it not gone 16-25 on the road.
In 2017-18, Kanter is attempting to impart his wisdom on a Knicks team that’s been dominant at home and dreadful away from it. Losing a close road game was progress considering eight of the first nine road losses were decided by at least 12 points, but a loss is a loss in the standings.
If the Knicks want to realize their postseason potential, then they must be able to win games away from Madison Square Garden—especially when they come down to the wire.
Must Read: Takeaways from the loss to the Detroit Pistons
The New York Knicks are a young and inexperienced team, but they’re ahead of schedule. Failing to improve on the road would mean hitting pause on a season that’s otherwise flush with progress.