New York Knicks: How Good Are They?
By Ken Tavarez
After two straight losses, The New York Knicks currently sit 9-13 on the season. While the team has some work to do to get back to .500, they have clearly played better than expected. The Knicks have only been favored to win 3 of those games. For the season, the oddsmakers expected them to win about 22.5 games. While beating the spread is good, it’s not the true indicator of how good a team is.
During the season it is hard to know how good a team really is because they are not playing the same opponents and number of home games as the other teams in their conference. So in order to have a better idea you need to look at the strength of schedule and point differential.
The Knicks’ Schedule
The Knicks’ strength of schedule (SoS) after the first 20 games is ranked 12th in the NBA. Only two teams in the East have played harder schedules. The Knicks have only played 8 games at home and already have had a West Coast road trip. In total, they have played 8 games against the West, including Utah twice. The Knicks haven’t played any bottom dwellers like Minnesota, Detroit, or Washington.
The Knicks’ Adjusted Net Rating
The other measurement is adjusted net rating (NRtg/A) which is an estimate of point differential per 100 possessions adjusted for strength of schedule. Using that metric, the Knicks would be ranked 17th with a -0.97 NRtg/A, and 9th in the East. So it appears that the Knicks are actually better than the oddsmakers thought.