How do the New York Knicks rank among their Eastern Conference counterparts?
The New York Knicks capped off their preseason (3-1) with a trouncing of the Cleveland Cavaliers and a surprise start by rookie point guard Immanuel Quickley that appeared to invigorate the offense.
With the preseason officially behind us, it’s time for us to take a look at where the Knicks stack up against the competition and whether or not they will be a team fighting for a potential playoff (or play-in) game.
I know – it’s hard not to laugh at the idea of the Knicks playing in any meaningful games to end the season. But the truth of the matter is, 10-15 teams in each conference will be playing games this postseason.
While it would be easy to rank a bunch of teams ahead of the Knicks that are more likely to make these additional spots due to simply being more talented and experienced than New York, instead I’m going to focus on the teams the Knicks will likely be in contention with for the 10th seed.
I will consider the five other teams at the bottom of the conference, and how have they improved in comparison to the Knicks this offseason. Here are the standings from last season:
- Milwaukee Bucks (56-17)
- Toronto Raptors (53-19)
- Boston Celtics (48-24)
- Indiana Pacers (43-28)
- Miami Heat (44-29)
- Philadelphia 76ers (43-30)
- Brooklyn Nets (35-37)
- Orlando Magic (33-40)
- Charlotte Hornets (23-43)
- Washington (25-57)
- Chicago Bulls (22-43)
- New York Knicks (21-45)
- Detroit Pistons (20-46)
- Atlanta Hawks (20-47)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (19-45)
Now, let’s go through each team.